Spring Break in New York
by romansilence
Summary: Cassandra goes missing after Spring Break spent in New York City and Sam goes AWOL from Atlantis to get her little girl back - with the help of SVU Detective Olivia Benson and others. Pairing: Olivia/Alex, Sam/Janet though she's dead in this story and eventually Sam/Teyla
1. Chapter 1: Old Friends

Disclaimer: The characters and background stories of the TV-shows "Stargate: SG-1", "Stargate: Atlantis", "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Conviction" do not belong to me, unfortunately. I only take them out to play. No copyright infringement is intended, no profit will be made. The same goes for the characters of "Criminal Minds" and "Cold Case" who'll only play minor roles. "NCIS" is mentioned at the beginning but only as a TV reference.

Timeline: The story takes place in the middle of the seventh season of "L&O: SVU" and the fourth season of "Stargate: Atlantis", with slight changes in canon. For the sake of the story I synchronized both alternate realities and fused them into one. And though I might stretch the realms of probability once or twice I hope that it still works out.

Pairings (eventually): Sam/Janet, Alex/Olivia, Sam/Teyla, Jack/Daniel, Ronon/Vala.

Warning: There's violence, the mention of rape and torture but nothing too gruesome, I hope. Occasionally there's strong language. It also contains depictions of consensual sex between two adult women.

Summary: Cassandra disappears during spring break in New York City and Sam goes AWOL from Atlantis to get her little girl back – with the help of SVU detective Olivia Benson and the rest of the squad, and that's where things just get started.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

_In the criminal justice system sexually based offences are considered especially heinous. In New York City the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. This is one of their stories - and more._

-x-x-x-x-x-

**PROLOGUE**

"Are we ready, Boris?"

"Sure, Boss," the young man answered, with a distinct emphasis on the 'boss'.

Colonel Samantha Carter of the US Air Force, recently promoted from Lieutenant Colonel for her part in defeating the Ori and now commanding officer of Atlantis, the City of the Ancients in the Pegasus Galaxy, smiled at the young, sandy-haired operator, a civilian computer specialist from Germany.

"Boss, hmm? So, for how many eps of NCIS did you stay last night, Probie?" Sam asked, referring to the NCIS marathon Colonel Shepard had organized for the weekend. He laughed in answer and muttered something that at least she was much hotter than DiNozzo or Gibbs.

"Dial us home, Probie."

Boris dialed Earth for the weekly report and chat. Instead of General Landry who was home with a severe cold, there was only Master Sergeant Siler at the other end, and in contrast to their usual calls he was his usual chatty self. He told her about an extensive check of the security system scheduled for later that day, something everyone with a single brain cell at least dreaded. Experience made Sam understand his preoccupation and they just exchanged reports and orders and promised to talk longer the next week.

Sam returned to her office, eager to read Cassie's weekly email. She knew Cassandra had planned to go what she called club crawling in New York with a few friends from med school. She had said that the traditional Florida Spring Break bash with its focus on binge drinking was not really to their liking. Cassie had said that she could barely wait to see New York for the first time.

Sam was looking forward to read about their exploits, but there was no mail, not even a short note telling her that Cassie was safely back in Denver. She knew that they had planned to fly back on Friday. Sam tried to tell herself that Cassie probably had a lot of sleep to catch up on and had not had time to compose a message, but in the six months since she had taken over the Atlantis base Cassie not once had missed to write to her and usually there had been even more than one message.

There probably was a very simple explanation but Sam couldn't help but worry. She tried to concentrate on her paperwork, but it was slow going. So, she was relieved when there was a knock on her door.

"Lieutenant Masters, how may I help you?" Sam asked the communication's officer in charge of decompressing and sorting the reports received from Earth and sending them to the different departments.

"The data burst from the SGC was rather slim this day but there was one message without a specific addressee. I can't make sense of it and asked Doctor McKay for help but he told me that he had more important things to do than to decipher chicken scratch, and that I should ask you."

"I doubt that these were his exact words," Sam muttered under her breath and then said loud. "I'm no linguist, so we might have to call in a specialist, but let me have a look at your chicken scratch."

Sam stared at the print-out for almost three minutes and when she looked up her face was as ashen as if she had just seen a ghost.

"Lieutenant Masters, call Colonel Shepard and his team back. I want them home ASAP. Call a senior staff meeting the moment they step through the gate, and delete any hint that this message ever existed. I want it gone from the computer core, from the back-ups and from every single storage device on which it could have found its way. Call me as soon as John, Teyla and Ronon are back."

-x-x-x-

It took John and his team an hour to return. They were immediately ushered to the senior staff conference room. Rodney was barely looking up from his computations which had taken precedence over joining the flagship team on this mission. Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that the last time they had gone to trade with this particular group he almost had gotten them all killed because of his blundering, really nothing at all. Jennifer Keller looked curious and worried but that was a rather standard expression for her when dealing with the continually unexpected that came with living in the City of the Ancients. The others all looked at each other with question marks in their eyes, but no one in the room seemed to know what this emergency meeting was all about.

Everyone fell silent when Sam entered the room. She had changed out of her uniform and was now wearing dark brown leather trousers, a black turtleneck and a long, dark brown leather coat. Her hair was in a ponytail and she carried a leather duffle bag over her right shoulder and an old, baggy briefcase, probably containing her laptop.

"I'm sorry for calling you in on such short notice. Something came up and I have to return to Earth in about an hour. Colonel Shepard will take over for me and everything will go its usual way. The duty rosters for the next three weeks are up to date, the missions are planned. With a bit of luck there will be no problems. Any questions?"

"Yeah, Sam, are these our new uniforms? I'm not sure Rodney would look good in something like that," John quipped.

"Sorry to disappoint you, John, but we'll have to stick to the uniforms you're wearing now. Anything else?"

"Colonel Carter, I assume your reason to return to Earth on such short notice is private. Is there anything we can do on our end?"

"Thanks for asking, Doctor Zelenka, but I don't think so, well, except for trying to keep this city in one piece. Thank you all for your understanding. Dismissed."

Everyone except for John's team and Jennifer left; then John asked. "What's really going on, Sam?"

"The chicken scratch," Rodney said suddenly. He looked up and his computer unit clattered to the floor. "Wow! Samantha! You're looking hot!"

"Chicken scratch?" Teyla asked.

"Oh, yes, a message sent with the data stream from Earth. I told Masterson to go and bother Carter with it," Rodney answered while he picked up his oversized padd.

"The message was in Goa'uld. It said that my dau… that Cassandra Fraiser is missing. She was in New York last week, for Spring Break, and I have not heard from her since. I don't know much more. The bigger part of the message contained a time to gate directly to Earth and an Iris code, as well as the warning to keep it low profile. John, I just granted myself some leave; so, you'll take over. I'll dial in directly. Going over Midway Station would take too long. To make sure that none of you are implicated, I already ordered a test run on the new gate room evacuation protocol. I'll do this alone."

"You might need some muscle on this Earth of yours, Colonel Carter," Ronon said.

"Thank you for the offer, Ronon Dex, but I don't even know what's wrong, and besides you are much more than just some muscle. However, you're hard to overlook and it would make it difficult to keep a low profile."

Ronon inclined his head in acceptance in a way that reminded Sam of Teal'c.

"Ronon has a point, you shouldn't go down there without some backup. The message could be a trick," John said.

"You don't need to worry about me, I'll be alright. Don't forget that I would not even know that there's a problem if I didn't have friends at the SGC and outside of it. The message was from Daniel Jackson. I trust him more than almost anyone else. I trust him with more than just my life," Sam said.

"Let's go and grab something to eat before you go, Sam," Teyla said.

"Teyla, we can't just let her go into the lion's den without someone watching her back," John protested.

"John, there's no way to stop Sam. This is her daughter who's in trouble. She has to go. And besides you shouldn't speak about your home planet as if it were enemy territory," Teyla explained.

"Thank you for understanding, Teyla. A salad and a soda sound good," Sam answered.

Only when they left the conference room they became aware that Jennifer and Rodney were no longer with them.

They insisted on accompanying her to the gate room and just when Sam had started to dial Rodney and Jennifer ran in from different directions. Jennifer carried one of the new emergency med kits equipped with diagnostic instruments which would be hard to come by on Earth. Rodney pressed a DVD into her hands.

"Here, you might need this. It should allow you access to every database on Earth. It holds the diagnostic programs I de… we developed a couple of weeks ago. I tweaked them a bit, well, you'll see."

"Thanks, Jennifer, thanks, Rodney. I appreciate that." Sam stuffed the med kit and the DVD in her briefcase, shouldered her duffle bag and stepped through the gate.

-x-x-x-x-x-

**Chapter ONE: Old Friends**

Daniel was waiting for her in the gate room. They hugged and he hurried her out.

"Let's go, I'll explain everything on the way. Siler has shut down the security monitors for a security check but he can only keep them down for so long. We have to hurry. Jack thinks it would be best if the higher ups don't know about your arrival for as long as possible," he said while he dragged her along the corridor.

They took the elevator to level 12 and climbed up one of the access shafts from there. "Sorry for the unexpected workout, Sam."

"It's alright, Danny, I know it's the only way to avoid the security at the main entrance and the guards on level 11."

Daniel let her through the woods for about half an hour. When they reached the road, the lights of a black SUV blinked for a short moment and Jack stepped out.

They hugged. "It's good to see you, Sir."

"Carter, when will you learn to call me Jack?"

"I'll work on it, Si… Jack, but that habit is particularly hard to break. So, don't expect it before hell freezes over."

"That would be never. You got to do better than that, Sam. Remember, we were there when hell blew up. It no longer can freeze over," Jack quipped. "And now, kids, let's go. Next stop Denver International Airport. Danny-boy, fill her in."

"Sam, I…"

"Daniel, you don't have to sugar-coat things for me. Just tell me what you know, then tell me what you suspect, and only then we will talk about what you fear. Let's start with what I know, alright?"

Daniel nodded.

"Cassie told me that she and three of her friends would go to New York for Spring Break. She told me that she would be back the day before yesterday. I expected a long email about her trip but there was none in the weekly mail. And before I really had the chance to wonder about it, your message was brought to my attention."

"Cassie went to New York with her friends Alison, Marge and Cory. They were the first who contacted the SGC to tell us, or rather you that Cassie was missing. General Landry ordered me to drive to Denver to talk with them, and believe me the story they had to tell ranks to high heaven."

"Just the facts, please, Daniel."

"I'll try, Sam.

"Cassie and her friends had planned to take an early flight back on Friday morning. Thursday evening they wanted to hit Greenwich Village and started with the White Horse Tavern on Hudson Street to drink to the memory of Dylan Thomas. Then they made their way down to Rubyfruit's Bar & Grill. They only wanted to eat there but stayed much longer to dance. They wanted to get some air before hitting a club called Henrietta's or something, so, they decided to walk. They were in high spirits and didn't pay much attention to their surroundings. About three blocks down they suddenly were attacked.

"A group of six men came at them from a dark alley. Alison and Cory were able to give a very good description of two of them. They described them as some biker types. They called the girls stupid dykes and told them that they would teach them the error of their ways. That's why the girls think that they saw them leave Ruby's and followed them. Cassie and Marge tried to talk some sense into them but it didn't work. Urged on by their leader one of them attacked Marge and Cassie reacted. She lashed out and soon they were fighting. Cassie's training really paid off. She told the others to run away and call the police.

"911 was busy, but they almost literally ran into a police cruiser. Alison told the officers what had happened. They seemed reluctant to believe them and it took almost a quarter of an hour 'til they agreed to accompany them back to the alley. The alley, however, was empty, no sign of anything having happened there. The officers then brought them to the precinct. They filed a report and told them to keep with their plans. They told them that in more than ninety percent of cases like this the missing girl would come back on her own after a few hours or days when she had tired herself out."

Daniel saw how Sam's jaw tightened but she swallowed her protest, and he continued with his report.

"Alison and the others tried to make them understand that Cassie would never do something like that. They were told to calm down and that they could file a missing person's report in forty-eight hours. Then they were escorted back to their hostel. They didn't know what to do, so they called every hospital and free clinic they could find in the phone book, but no one fit Cassie's description. Before flying back home Alison called the SGC to contact you, Sam.

"General Landry took the call and he sent me to Denver to take their testimony and file a missing person's report via the Denver police in your name, after all you're her next of kin. He also alerted the IOC and Agent Barrett. I wanted to go to New York to help the authorities but General Landry convinced me that the NID would do everything in their power to find Cassie."

Daniel fell silent. He took a deep breath and made sure to look Sam in the eyes.

"Late the next day, that is yesterday, the general received a report from the IOC that Cassandra Fraiser's body had been found in a back street in New York, abused and mutilated. It said that the authorities had already received all the documentation necessary and that there could be no doubt that the ID would be positive. It said that we should consider the case closed. There also was an order not to tell you about it under any circumstances. They would deal with it when the time was right.

"Added was the most incomplete medical report in history, flanked by a preliminary autopsy report. Carolyn confirmed her father's suspicions. There was no mention of an anomalous factor in the blood. So, the medical examiner in New York either was extremely sloppy or the body of the young woman they found was not Cassandra Fraiser.

"Landry immediately called Jack and they both tried to dig deeper. Both of them were stonewalled. The next day, that is today, another message came in. It retracted the first, said that it had been an error on the part of an admin assistant. The new message contained a report of the NID that ascertained that Cassie's disappearance had nothing to do with the SGC or anything related to the SGC. Her case thus should be handled by the local authorities only. The order not to let you know about her disappearance unless you asked was affirmed."

"I don't get it," Sam said. "What do they think I would do? Grab a Wraith stunner and run amuck?"

"Jack, it's your turn," Daniel said.

Jack continued driving. "Agent Barrett called me right after the second IOC report had come in. He was as puzzled about the whole thing as we were. He told me about an unofficial IOC memo that had found its way in his mail. It was unsigned, but stated that Cassandra Fraiser and her latent supernatural abilities could pose a danger in the future and that it would be better to get rid of her as long as they still had control over her."

"Bastards!" Sam felt the urge to pace, instead she took a deep breath. If they were afraid of Cassie's latent abilities, what would they do if they found out about my active abilities?, she thought.

Then her powerful intellect took over. "So, what happened in New York was the best thing that could have happened to them. They placate us by saying that the local authorities will take care of it and at the same time they keep the police from really investigating by making them believe that the dead body in their morgue is Cassie."

Sam bit her lower lip. "I don't get it. It might even have worked, had they not sent this first report. They must have known that it would send up red flags at the SGC. So, why send it at all? Who at the IOC is playing us and why?"

"That's among the things I intend to find out as soon as I'm back in Washington, though it took us much longer to figure it out. I'll let you know via Daniel as soon as I got something for you," Jack said.

"As far as the tech guys at the base could find out the local coroner is still refusing to ID the body as Cassandra Fraiser. They were able to trace a few emails but couldn't get into their database. You'll probably get further. We put everything we know and all the documents we could get our hands on in there."

Daniel handed her a Blackberry.

"I'll use the same model. It's unregistered. We set it up in a way so that calls between the two phones can not be traced or tapped into. I'll act as a go between for Jack and you. Jack sent a packet to an old friend of his. His name is Nick, his cell number is on the speed dial. He'll wait for you at the airport with some wheels. In the packet you'll find a 9mm, a zat and a healing device. You can call on him should you need some muscle."

"Why does everyone think that I'll need additional muscle?"

"Everyone?" Jack asked from the driver's seat.

"Ronon offered to come with me, and like Teal'c if you don't know him it's easy to see him as muscle incarnate. I told him that I could handle it, and anyway even at the Big Apple he would have stood out like an armed Human on a hive ship."

"Sounds like you're well acclimated," Jack said.

Sam smiled though it didn't reach her eyes. It was just like O'Neill to pick up on slips like that.

"Atlantis is a great city, Jack. There are moments I forget that I'm only there for a year and then I think I could find a new home there." Sam looked into Daniel's eyes and continued, "This far away it does not hurt that much."

Daniel put his arms around her shoulders. He knew she would not cry but he also knew that she enjoyed the comfort. Janet would always be in her heart. The members of the original SG-1 knew that. They also knew how much it hurt her having to be at the base after her death. At first she had stayed to give Cassandra a chance to finish High School, and then there had been the replicator threat. Sam had taken over Research and Development at Area51 while Cassie had attended pre-med school close by. The Ori situation had forced Sam back to Cheyenne Mountain, but the men in her life knew that every single day at the base had been hell for her. No one said a word but all the old hands at the base knew it; Vala had picked up on it and had in her inimitable way done her best to get Sam to relax. Mitchell, on the other hand, would probably never figure it out.

When Jack pulled into the short time parking lot of the airport Sam said, "Si…Jack, there is something you should know, especially in light of their fear of Cassie's potential abilities. In my third month on Atlantis there was an accident in one of the newly discovered labs."

"I read the report, Sam. McKay blew it up," Jack answered.

"That's not the whole truth. It's true that Rodney set the whole thing in motion and it's also true that the lab exploded in the end. Our report didn't say that inside the lab we found a machine very similar to the one Nirrti once used on us, some sort of DNA re-sequencer. Rodney set it in motion and I got caught in it, and it changed me," Sam said.

"Changed you how?" Daniel asked.

"We don't know for sure. Jennifer, Jennifer Keller, our CMO, is still running tests. My reflexes are faster and I'm a bit stronger than I was before. I have the ability to make Ancient technology work and I suddenly understand their language. I can get things to work even Shepard has problems with and I can heal a body of physical trauma, at least as long as the person is still alive and has not yet lost too much blood."

"So, you could use the chair in Antarctica and then some?" Jack asked.

"Yes Jack. Let me show you." Sam leaned forward between the backrests of the front seats and let the palm of her hand rest on Jack's bad knee. He didn't feel any change but when she leaned back into her own seat her handprint was still glowing on the fabric of his jeans and the spot was slightly warm to the touch.

"It will probably only hold for a few weeks, Jack, maybe months. To heal your knee completely I would have needed more time."

"Who knows?" He asked.

Jack had never doubted Sam's words, he only wanted to diffuse some of her tension. He also knew that she had not just healed his knee to make a point but simply because she could and because it had been an easy way to do it without giving the impression that she cared too much.

"Apart from you and Daniel, A-1 and Jennifer; that is Jennifer Keller, Rodney McKay, John Shepard, Teyla Emmagen and Ronon Dex. With the tendency of the IOC to come to rash conclusions we thought it would be best if it didn't become general knowledge," Sam answered.

"A-1?" Jack asked.

"The flagship team of Atlantis. They're not SG-1, but they're doing a very good job," Sam answered with a smile.

"We'll keep your secret, Carter, and now go and get our girl back, Sam. And Sam, be careful," Jack said gruffly.

-x-x-x-

Jack had booked her a seat on a night flight of a small airline. It would make two stops on the way, making the flight last close to eight and a half hours, but that was fine with Sam. It gave her the time to do some research, though Jack had told her in his best command voice to get some rest on the flight.

Rodney had not been kidding about the DVD. Sam uploaded it onto her laptop and despite her worry she managed a tiny smile at his minute modifications to the programs they had developed to bypass Ancient security codes. Earth encryption codes didn't stand a shadow of a chance. It enabled her to easily get access to every database in the world without leaving a trace. The secrets of Earth were all just a few keystrokes away; combined with her own programs it might just turn her laptop into the most powerful single processor unit this side of the Pegasus Galaxy. And that she used to great benefit.

Just minutes before the plane started its final descent, Sam knew that even if this were not about her daughter she would try to help put an end to this series of brutal murders.

-x-x-x-

Jack's friend Nick did really qualify as muscle. He was as tall as Teal'c with a grey crew cut and kind wrinkles at the edges of his eyes. He held up a sign with her name and as she stepped closer he asked,

"So, you're the National treasure?"

"General O'Neill tends to exaggerate. I presume you're Nick?" Sam said with a noncommittal smile.

"Yes Colonel Carter. Major Nick Farthington, retired. I got your wheels and the packet outside."

"Call me Sam, please. This whole thing is so far outside of official channels that ranks really don't seem appropriate. Besides, Jack said that you're a friend, and a friend of his is a friend of mine."

"Sure thing, Sam. This way. It's not far."

They walked along the terminal towards the short term parking lots. When they turned the corner he led her to a beautiful '65 Harley with red upholstery.

"What a beaut'! I sense Jack's hand here. If there's one thing I miss at my current post it's that there's no chance to have a decent ride. I guess that's not your ordinary rental?" Sam asked.

"It's one of mine, actually it belongs to my wife, but she's upstate for the week. When she heard about your Indian she told me to let you use it."

Sam knew that Nick was only telling her part of the truth. However, as a friend of Jack's he probably also was ex-special ops and he wouldn't tell her more than he wanted to say.

"I'll treat her with care, Nick, I promise."

Nick nodded and said, "The packet is in the saddleback on the left. Now, would you give an old man a ride back to the city?"

"With pleasure, just let me take a quick look at the map and I'll drop you off wherever you want," Sam answered.

"Jack said that you know your way around the city. Give me an hour and I'll get you a car with a navigation system. It might be safer."

"Don't worry, Nick. Just give me five minutes and I won't need a navigation system. I guess Jack did not mention that I have an eidetic memory," Sam said calmly.

"Like, you remember everything you ever saw?" Nick asked.

"Not everything. I have to make a conscious effort to commit things to memory," Sam answered while she scanned the map she had unfolded on the seat of the bike. "So, where do you want me to drop you off, Nick?"

-x-x-x-

Sam had dropped Nick off on Staten Island and received an invitation to spend the night at his house. An hour after her arrival Sam entered the 16th precinct on the heels of a redhead of about her height, dressed in a smartly cut business suit of a non-descript color. Sam followed the signs to the offices of the Special Victims Unit. The other woman was still in front of her. She followed her in.

"Benson, what's taking so long with the ID of the Fraiser case? Warner is stalling and I want this done," the woman said.

"Casey, no matter who our vic is, it still will be our case to solve. She was a victim of a rape-homicide. That's what we do. Melinda is good at what she does, just trust her."

"That's ADA Novak for you, Detective Benson. And you should know that identifying the victim is the first step to breaking the case. I need Warner to confirm that our vic is this Cassandra Fraiser to get the leverage we need to get through the mountain of red tape the military will without a doubt be throwing up."

"You never pressured us this way before, Casey. The doc would not lie to you. Please, don't make it personal."

"And how could I not? I'm the laughing stock at the DA's office," Casey retorted.

"I don't know about Hogan Place but we are not laughing at you, Casey. We all know that you were drunk and you did nothing really embarrassing."

"What a convenient excuse, drunk. I was not drunk enough not to know what I was doing. Get her to confirm this damn ID, ASAP."

The woman turned around with a huff and stormed out of the office. Sam had to step aside not to be overrun. She was tempted to say something Jack-like but instead stepped deeper into the room.

"Hello, I'm Detective Benson, how can I help you?" The dark haired woman who at the moment was the sole occupant of the squad room said.

"Samantha Carter. I'm here for Cassandra Fraiser. I can help you to confirm that your Jane Doe in the morgue is not her, and I'll need your help to find her. She's been missing for three days now. That is if you are the lead on this case, Detective Benson?"

"Yes, I am. You said you have proof about the identity of my victim?"

"No, I said that I have proof that your victim is not Cassandra Fraiser, Detective," Sam answered.

"What kind of proof?"

"Forensic evidence, medical reports, but it would be easier to explain it directly to your coroner, this way I won't have to repeat myself."

"How do I know that I can trust you, Miss Carter?" Olivia asked.

"You know that you can trust me if my information turns out to be right, Detective. Besides, you are my best shot at getting my… to get Cassandra back."

"Who is Miss Fraiser to you, Miss Carter?"

"Call me Sam. I'm her next of kin, so to speak. I helped to raise her and in my heart she is as much my daughter as if I had given life to her." Sam let a part of her feelings show in her eyes.

Enough to convince the dark-haired detective. "Call me Olivia. I'll let the captain know where we're going."

-x-x-x-

Doctor Melinda Warner was about to go to lunch when Olivia entered through the open door. "Melinda, do you have a moment?"

"If you're here to do Novak's bidding, no, I don't have a moment."

"I got someone here who can give you the means to get Casey off your back," Olivia said.

"Now that sounds good enough to postpone lunch. So?"

Sam stepped from behind Olivia, stretched out her hand and froze. "Melinda? Melinda Morrison? Holy Hannah!"

Melinda's eyes widened. "Sam? Samantha Carter?" She took two hesitant steps forward, then rushed towards the blonde and embraced her.

"Sam, is this really you? Damn girl, you've grown even more beautiful over the years. How long has it been? Fifteen years? And it's Melinda Warner now."

"So, you married this gorgeous boyfriend of yours?" Sam asked.

"I did, Sam. What about you? Did you find the woman of your dreams?" Sam stiffened slightly but enough for Melinda to feel it and change the topic. "So, flygirl, you still up there keeping us lesser mortals safe?"

"I kept my flight qualifications up but it's been a while since I last flew an F16. I'm more into research these days," Sam answered. "I knew you quit after your stint in Bosnia, but I never would have expected to find you in a morgue."

"Bosnia was just too hard, all the pain and senseless violence. I saw women literally raped to death, I had to get out. Then I started to work at the ER, but the trauma was still too much to bear. I was not strong enough. Here I can at least do something to help," Melinda said softly.

"It's not a question of strength, Mel. One of the strongest persons I ever met returned from Bosnia ready to give up on medicine and the Air Force. Instead she made her interest in virology her main focus. Janet once said that without the distance it afforded her she would not have been able to go on. She said that she had needed the time to heal. So, I understand why you mustered out. You did what you had to do to stay sane," Sam answered while still holding the other woman and squeezing her shoulder.

"Janet? You know Janet Fraiser?" Melinda asked. "Without her help I would have gone AWOL after the first month in Bosnia. She has an innate knack for knowing when to be forceful and when someone just needs a bit of encouragement."

"Five feet one and the command presence of a three star general. My CO liked to call her Napoleonic power monger. I'm biased but she was the best doctor ever, not only in the Air Force."

Melinda picked up on the past tense, saw the barely concealed pain in Sam's eyes and took her in a comforting embrace. Sam allowed it for a minute and then stepped back.

"It has been over three years, Mel. We can catch up later. Let's deal with the present now. I brought the medical records for Cassandra Fraiser, blood work, dentals and a recent picture. It's not complete. Some of it is classified but it should be enough to convince you that your victim is not her."

Olivia observed the reunion with wide eyes. She had known that Melinda had once been with the Air Force, and now it seemed that the blonde stranger was too, and the incomplete records had come from the Air Force. So, as much as some part of her wanted to trust Sam, another, louder part called for caution.

"Wait a minute. You're with the Air Force? It was them who gave us those worthless medical records. So, what's your real agenda?"

"Olivia, you're overreacting. Sam would never do something like that. She's a friend and her word is enough for me," Melinda protested.

"Mel, Detective Benson has a point. I might have changed over the last fifteen years. Detective, Olivia, yes, I'm with the Air Force, but I'm not here as an Air Force officer. As far as the higher-ups know I'm still at my base. I didn't exactly ask for permission to come here," Sam explained.

"Then you're AWOL. How long do you have until your CO at the base finds out?" Melinda asked.

"I am the commanding officer. If nothing goes wrong I have a week before the Pentagon finds out, but I don't expect that I'll have this much luck. Officially I granted myself some overdue leave."

"What kind of crap do you try to sell here? You're far too young to command a base," Olivia asked.

Melinda laughed. "Olivia, when I met Sam she was fresh out of Air Force Academy and additional flight school. She was twenty-two and already had a PhD in astrophysics. What are you now? A lieutenant colonel?"

"They made me a full bird six months ago, Mel. And Olivia, the youngest colonel in the history of the Air Force was twenty-six. I'm thirty-eight. I wouldn't call that too young. I can understand your caution, but please believe me, the only thing I want is to bring Cassie back, safe and sound, and I don't care how many regulations I have to break to do that."

Olivia studied Sam's expression. "I believe you, Sam. I'm sorry but a mild form of paranoia, especially when dealing with government organizations is an occupational hazard for police officers. Let's get back to Cassandra Fraiser, alright?"

"Fraiser? Damn, I should have seen it earlier. She's Janet Fraiser's daughter," Melinda said.

"Adopted daughter, but yes, she's Janet's daughter, and mine," Sam answered, though the last part had been barely audible.

Melinda squeezed her friend's shoulder and began to study the file Sam had pulled out of her bag. Meanwhile Olivia asked, "So, how did you meet our good doctor?"

"I was wounded during Desert Storm and she put the pieces back together," Sam answered.

Melinda looked up and shock her head, "Still the queen of understatement and too damned modest. It earned you a Bronze Star with a Valor Device."

"You don't have to talk about it, Sam, if it brings back too many dark memories." Olivia was no expert on medals and commendations but she knew that Sam must have done something very brave, something exceptional to receive such a high decoration at such a young age.

"It's been a long time since I thought about it. It's alright.

"I was a fighter pilot during Desert Storm. My F17 was damaged during a mission and my back seat had been injured. We had to wait for a spare part and I was bored. The base CO called me in, at first I thought he wanted to berate me because I spent too much time at the pool table. Instead he asked me to volunteer for a mission as a substitute for the computer specialist of an infiltration unit. Time was of the essence and they couldn't wait for a replacement to be flown in. We were to retrieve some sensitive data. We ran into an ambush the moment we stepped into the compound we had been told would be empty and were taken prisoner. When we were freed four days later they brought us directly to the field hospital."

"In my experience being taken prisoner is not worth a Bronze Star," Olivia said though she had a pretty good idea what Sam was not telling her.

"The Iraqi soldiers beat us, tortured us. Their commander raped me but when his second-in-command tried to take his turn I got loose. I guess he thought that I was sufficiently broken and had my restraints removed. I killed him with the same knife he had used to mark me. I was able to free one of the other guys before the alarm was sounded. All of us got out and we also downloaded the files we needed. The seals sent in to get us out only had to pick us up and blow up the compound. We all got medals out of it, end of story."

Olivia looked at Sam with big dark eyes. She didn't know what to say, especially considering the matter of fact tone Sam had used, as if it had been just another day at the office.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright, Olivia. As I said, it's in the past. Mel helped me not to go insane while I was recuperating and during the weeks I was confined to desk duty."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	2. Chapter 2: Suspicion

**CH 02: Suspicion**

* * *

Melinda chose this moment to look up from the file, "That's quite the read, Sam. Can you answer a few questions?"

"I'll try my best, Mel, but don't forget I'm not a doctor," Sam answered with a smile.

"The blood condition mentioned in the papers; I've never seen something like this before. Part of it seems to be some kind of protein, the other looks like some sort of metal I doubt is even in our periodic system."

"The periodic system grows all the time, Mel. I can't tell you what really happened, it's classified. But I can tell you the official cover story if you're interested."

"I am, Sam, but please 'classified', all this so-called 'in the interest of national security' is just crap and you know it."

"Not in this case, Mel. You have my word."

"That's all I need, Sam, but I insist on getting some answers later."

"Promise, I'll tell you all I can," Sam answered.

"That will have to do. Now, let's get back to business, alright?"

"About ten years ago Cassandra lost her parents in a car accident. The driver of a transport with toxic chemicals and experimental metals coming from an Air Force research lab lost control of his truck. Cassandra's parents were dead immediately but the girl, she was barely eleven at the time, breathed in the fumes of the chemicals and of some of the liquid metals that had mixed during the accident. It changed the composition of her blood. It makes her sensitive to most standard painkillers and antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, but apart from that she is perfectly normal. There's a comprehensive list at the end of the file. Janet was not only her adoptive mother but also her doctor; she checked out all the combinations she could think of… Do you have any more questions, Mel?"

"Just one. The medical records that have been sent from the Air Force, they don't match the ones you gave me."

"I thought about it on the way here and as far as I can tell what was sent to you came from the same original file. It has just been purged of any kind of useful information, and probably by someone without a medical background. As for the 'why', that I can't tell you. It might have been a genuine mistake. My former CO is looking into it at the moment," Sam said.

"Good. I'll make a formal comparison of the medical records with the body and send it to ADA Novak. She's been pestering me since early this morning. She somehow seems to be on the war path. Are the rumors true about Mulligan's, Olivia?"

"As always, yes and no. We all went to Mulligan's to celebrate the verdict in the Garner case. Casey got a bit tanked and tried to kiss me. She told me that she loved me, loud enough to be heard at the neighboring tables. I knew that she has a bit of a crush on me but I never expected her to be this direct. I tried to tell her that I see her as a friend and only as a friend and that I don't return her romantic feelings. She slapped me and stormed off. Munch followed her and brought her home. End of story. Casey was drunk. She didn't know what she was saying, but she still blames me, at least judging from the scene she made in the squad room about an hour ago."

"Olivia, stop kidding yourself. Casey has more than a crush. She's head over heels with you, and when Alex came back and the two of you didn't immediately hook up again she started to hope that she could have more than just a dream."

"You're getting way too personal here, Melinda. So, for our vic, it's back to square one?" Olivia asked.

Melinda sighed and nodded, but Sam said, "Not necessarily. I have a theory but I'd rather be wrong."

"Care to elaborate?" Melinda asked.

"Could I have a look at the complete autopsy report, Mel? It's not in your database yet, and I want to make sure before I say anything."

Melinda handed her old friend a file folder and Sam began to read. When she looked up again there was a haunted expression in her eyes.

"I think your victim's name is Louise Fitzgerald, twenty-two, born in Maryland and a student at the NYU." Sam said. "The problem is that a burned body found in Little Italy two weeks ago has already been identified as Louise Fitzgerald just because her wallet has been found next to it. There is no shred of forensic evidence."

"So, what makes you think that our Jane Doe is this Miss Fitzgerald?"

"There is no DNA but the missing person's report her roommate filed says that her blood type is AB positive. It also mentions a tattoo, a butterfly on the left side of her pelvis; just where your victim's skin and flesh have been removed almost down to the bone." Sam said.

Melinda and Olivia looked at Sam as if she had just dropped a bomb on them, and in a way she had. So, Sam decided to also tell them the rest.

"If I'm right then the burned body has yet to be identified. But the fire was so hot that it was impossible to even determine the cause of death without doubt, not to speak about DNA or other reliable ID. The medical examiner on the case has requested an expert to have a look at the bones itself but the request has been turned down due to lack of funds. Louise Fitzgerald disappeared the day before. She had been on the way to a date but never reached the restaurant.

"Three weeks before Louise's disappearance another body was found in Brooklyn. Unfortunately there's no evidence to match it up with another young woman disappearing the night before. The victim this time was identified as Catherine Bagor from Charlottesville. She had been beaten, abused and mutilated, just like your Jane Doe. She had last been seen in Philadelphia where she had been visiting a friend. The night after her disappearance a mutilated female body was found close to the spot Catherine Bagor had last been seen. That victim has yet to be identified. She was the third victim in three week intervals in Philadelphia, and there have been other similar murders in Chicago. The FBI is investigating."

"About how many victims are we talking about?" Olivia asked.

"Five in Chicago, three in Philadelphia, and if I'm right, three here, Catherine Bagor, the burned Jane Doe and Louise Fitzgerald."

"First thing we did was to check VICAP, but Elliot didn't find anything. I know the Feds have their own agenda and like to play everything close to the vest, but with at least eight confirmed murders should they not have sent out a warning for us to keep our eyes open for the MO? Or did you get something, Melinda?" Olivia asked.

"No, but you're right with eight victims there should have been a nationwide M.E.'s bulletin on the condition of the remains, at least. I'll check but I would have remembered something like this."

"Melinda, it looks as if we have to ask the Feds for some autopsy reports. Damn, that could take days," Olivia said.

Sam pulled a laptop out of her bag and booted it. "I have what you need right here. Crime scene photos, autopsy reports, just don't ask me how I got them. Judge for yourself, Mel."

Melinda sat down and began to read. Olivia, however, took only a few looks at the crime scene photos before she decided to focus on another aspect of the case.

"If you are right, Sam, that means…" She fell silent.

"It means that Cassie is probably in the hands of a serial killer," Sam answered without emotion in her eyes.

"What's the Feds take on it? I guess they have at least some idea about the sick bastard doing that," Olivia asked.

"I didn't have the time to read all of their files but their BAU thinks that they are dealing with a sexual sadist with undertones of religious psychosis. He's between thirty-five and fifty, highly intelligent and extremely organized. All his confirmed victims have been killed the same way, the same kind of cuts, the same injuries. He tortures his victims and takes his time."

"Sam, you don't have to talk about it. I can read it later," Olivia said compassionately.

"It's alright, Olivia. I'm a combat soldier. I know how to rein in my emotions. Besides, it would take too long for you to read all of this.

"He ultimately kills his victims by cutting them open from the pelvis to the throat and letting them bleed to death. That's one of the reasons why they didn't react to the burned body. She had not been cut open."

They fell silent while Melinda clicked through the documents on the computer.

-x-x-x-

Sam's Blackberry rang. "Daniel, hi."

"No, no turbulences, a smooth flight, though I could have done without the two stops."

"Use an X302? Danny, not even the colo… Jack could get away with that, and can you imagine the collective heart attack of the Joint Chiefs if they ever found out? Besides, any news on if they know that I'm here yet?"

"That's good so far. Listen, Daniel, it turned out that their medical examiner is former Air Force and a friend of mine. I convinced her that their victim is not Cassie and told them about my theory."

"Well, I guess Detective Benson will have to talk to her Captain, then I will have to convince them to let me tag along, I'll step on a few toes and we get Cassie back."

"Yes, I know, a bad habit I picked up from Jack. So, why did you really call? I'm sure it's not to check up on me."

"That's great, Daniel, I'm sure it will help. Send the picture over please, and Danny, take care."

"Good news?" Olivia asked after Sam had put the phone away.

"I hope so. Cassie's friends remembered that the leader of their attackers had a tattoo on the back of his left hand, some sort of snake head. This morning they went to a tattoo parlor and flipped through the designs' book. They found something similar and had the tattooist add the differences."

"Slow down, would you? Attackers? What are you talking about?"

"You didn't get a report from hate crimes or missing persons or something?"

Olivia denied and Sam filled her in on the events of the night before the body was found.

"Let me make a few phone calls," Olivia said and left Melinda's office.

A few minutes later she was back, "This case gets more convoluted by the minute. The missing persons department sent the files they got from Denver to homicide when they heard about the body. Hate crimes has no record whatsoever on an incident on that street the night in question because the uniforms the girls named never a filed a report. I can't wait to hear what they have to say to that when they get on duty; that's as close to criminal negligence as it gets."

Before Olivia had a chance to talk herself into more of a rage, Melinda shut the lid of the laptop, "Your verdict, Melinda?"

"The Feds are right, but they also are wrong. Their profile is consistent with the injuries but I think they are wrong in excluding our victim. She has identical injuries to the other women, just not all of them. For some reason or other he killed her with a knife to the heart before he was through with his ritual.

"And, Olivia, I think he is escalating. He's taunting us by putting the IDs of his next victim on the bodies he dumps. I'm sorry, Sam."

"I threw up in the toilet on the plane when I came to this point during my research last night. You're telling me nothing new, Mel. So, Olivia, what's next?"

"As you told your friend on the phone: I'll go and speak with Da… Captain Cragen. He probably will call Captain VanBuren of Homicide and the Brooklyn-SVU. As for you going with us, well, that will be a hard sell, but I'll do my best."

"I'll come with you," Melinda said. "It might help if I speak with Don. Tell him that you're level-headed enough not to go off on your own. With the documentation you have in there he should be easy to convince. That alone should make half of the case."

"Only if one disregards the fact that I did not exactly ask for permission before downloading and reading the files in question," Sam cautioned.

"We'll try to do this on a don't-ask-don't-tell basis. Maybe you could prepare some sort of presentation while I speak to the captain, Sam. And Melinda, you still can speak with Cragen about Sam when I fail. For the moment it would be better if you could confirm the ID of our vic as Louise Fitzgerald."

Melinda nodded and said, "I'll join you as soon as possible."

"I'll need about half an hour to put the data we have into a presentable order, Olivia. But first I'd like a shower. I've been up since early yesterday morning."

-x-x-x-

Olivia had escorted Sam to the crib and the adjoining showers. When she entered the squad room about an hour later, Sam not only had showered but prepared her presentation and solidified her theory with a cross-check of the missing persons' reports from Chicago and Philadelphia. She met Melinda in front of the door and they found the other SVU detectives clustered around Olivia and badgering her with questions.

"Hey, Sam, Captain Cragen said that you can pluck in your laptop over there." Olivia pointed to a bank of monitors at one end of the room. "It's new and we're still in the middle of reading the manual. Think you can figure it out?"

Sam smiled at the slightly flirtatious undertones in Olivia's voice; so, she answered in kind, "I'll try, Olivia. No guarantees though. You know what they say about women and technology, and to make things worse, I'm a blonde."

Sam walked over to the monitors and seconds after booting the laptop the Bluetooth connection was established. She tested it and deactivated the connection. Sam felt the eyes of the three men on her. She knew who they were and wanted to give them a chance to get used to her presence. So, she busied herself with another check of the BAU database.

There was a note, entered only a few moments earlier. The NYPD had obviously pitched her idea to the BAU, but their chief profiler, a man named David Rossi, had been quick to dismiss it.

Meanwhile Sam kept one ear on the conversation going on a few paces away.

"Liv, who is she? You seem awfully comfy with her. She your new best friend or what?"

"Jealous much, Stabler?" Fin asked. "But seriously, Olivia, who is she?"

"She's an old friend of mine," Melinda answered.

"Guys, you'll get to know soon enough. Just let Dad finish his conference call."

Elliot meanwhile had stepped closer to Sam. He stretched his hand out to brush her leather coat aside.

"Freeze, Marine." Sam said and whirled around. Her voice held an edge of command and Elliot automatically reacted to it as he once had been trained. Sam suppressed a smile and added. "Detective Stabler, I'm no danger to your partner or this case. All I want is to find Cassandra Fraiser. She is as important to me as your children are to you."

"Then you won't object to surrender your weapon, right? Or do you want to be arrested for carrying a concealed weapon?"

"On what legal grounds, Detective? I have a permit to wear a weapon, a concealed weapon. Want to see it?"

Sam reached into the left side of her coat and handed Elliot a small leather wallet. He opened it and did something no one in this office had ever seen before: he saluted.

"Colonel Carter, Ma'am, please accept my apologies."

"I'm not on duty, Detective, please, call me Sam," she answered and stretched out her hand.

Elliot shook it and said, "Nice to meet you, Sam. Please, call me Elliot."

"Elliot it is," Sam answered and had a hard time not to grin when she saw Olivia's smirk at the other side of the room.

Captain Cragen chose this moment to call Sam in his office. "Olivia, you too."

Melinda slipped in with her. "Doctor Warner, I don't think your medical expertise is needed at the moment."

"Colonel Carter is a friend, Captain. I just wanted you to know that I would trust her with my life and the lives of my family."

"Colonel Carter does not need a character witness, Melinda. I called the Pentagon to verify her ID. I first spoke to a Major Davis who transferred me to a Brigadier General Jack O'Neill."

Sam smiled at the mention of her former CO.

"Yes, Colonel, according to General O'Neill we could not do better than have you help us with this case. He also said that despite your personal involvement you can be depended on to keep a cool head and think before you act. Was he right?"

"General O'Neill has been my direct commanding officer for eight years, Sir. He knows my abilities better than most, but Cassandra is like a daughter to me. I can only promise to do my best to stay level headed," Sam answered calmly.

"General O'Neill said that you would say that. I convinced the commissioner to let you be a part of this investigation, Colonel Carter, but he has one condition. You have to get either a judge or someone at the DA's office to sign a permission for you to act as a temporary agent of the police. Olivia, that will be your job. And now, let's go and fill the others in."

They left the office and Captain Cragen addressed the others, "Alright, kids, we have three rape-homicide victims and a young woman missing. The ball's in our court on this one, but we better don't drop it. The two-seven and Brooklyn SVU will assist us in whatever we need. The commissioner is practically salivating at the chance to one-up the Feds on this one. Colonel Carter, it's your turn. Olivia, you're the primary on this one, Elliot, Munch and Fin will be your seconds. For the time being this will be your only case. If need be we have permission to bring in more personnel to pick up the slack."

Sam explained her theory in greater detail than she had at the M.E.'s office. Munch who had been uncharacteristically silent up until then asked a few pointed and helpful questions. To answer one of them she quickly hacked into the BAU files.

"Wow," he said, "impressive. Who are you really, a colonel or a computer geek?"

"Actually, Detective Munch, I'm an astrophysicist with the Air Force. The computer stuff is just a by-product, but let's get back to business."

"Of course, please, call me John." He answered.

"Only if you call me Sam, John."

A bit further in the back Olivia and Melinda exchanged amused glances. With anyone else these lines would have sounded asinine, ludicrous at best, but Sam somehow made it sound sincere and all the men in the squad certainly seemed to soak it up.

An hour later, on the way to 1 Hogan Place Olivia asked Sam about it. "You play those guys pretty good, Sam."

"It's not a game, Olivia. For a long time I rose through the ranks by pretending that I'm just one of the guys, and for the most part it worked. But then I got into situations in which my fellow soldiers treated me like one of them, like a man, but the people we had to deal with didn't. That made it difficult to deal with them, and in the end I learned if I give everyone a bit of leeway it goes a long way for most people to accept me as who I am, a woman who is doing her job."

"I think I understand. In a way it's not very different from what I do."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	3. Chapter 3: Matters of the Heart

**CH 03: Matters of the Heart**

Before they had a chance to discuss this further the elevator opened on Casey Novak's floor. They almost collided with her when she literally flew through the door leading to the staircase. Olivia instinctively grabbed her to keep her from falling.

"Don't you touch me, Detective. This is all your fault, Benson. Branch just reamed me a new one, just because of you," Casey said harshly.

"I didn't ask you to get drunk, Casey."

"What other choice did I have, Detective Benson?"

"Casey, you are my friend. I hope Arthur Branch was not too hard on you. You are a beautiful woman, Casey, and one day you will find someone who returns your feelings, but I can't be this person. I'm sorry." The whole time Olivia had kept the redhead in her embrace and suddenly Casey started to cry.

Olivia motioned for Sam to open an office door two yards away and silently prayed that it would stay as calm in the corridor as it was right now until they had Casey safely inside of her office. She guided her to a small couch situated in the corner of the room. Sam took a box of Kleenex from the desk and handed it to Olivia.

"I'll wait outside, Olivia."

Olivia's eyes were pleading with her to stay. Casey looked up and sniffled. She tried to regain her composure and finally asked, "I guess this is about a case, so please stay, besides, I already made a fool out of myself. I can just as well go all the way."

Despite herself Sam took a seat next to Casey, looked her in the eyes and said, "To feel deeply does not make you a fool. If there's one thing I learned over the years it's that there is no greater force in the universe than real, deep feelings. They are what make us human, they are what differentiate us from cold-blooded killers or rapists. Sometimes these feelings are ugly and sometimes they hurt, but they make us what we are. I know that I don't have the right to give you unsolicited advice but I'll do it anyway. Don't try to hide what you feel at the moment, Miss Novak, but don't let it blind you for other feelings."

Suddenly Sam had her arms full with a crying ADA. Olivia looked helplessly on but when Sam nodded she closed her own arms around Casey and slowly took Sam's place who then left the room.

Sam took a seat in one of the visitor's chairs in the corridor. It was relatively quiet and the few people passing didn't pay her any attention. Sam was a bit surprised by her own words. She never had voiced these thoughts aloud but they still had been true, though she had not said all that had gone through her head. She had not told her that sometimes even the memory of the bad times was better than no memories at all.

Even more than three years later she still loved Janet; even more than three years after her death it still hurt. It hurt every moment of every day that Janet was gone but the pain also kept her memories alive. In the first few months after P3X-666 the pain of Janet's loss seemed to be all that was left and had it not been for Cassandra she would have given up.

Cassie-baby, please, be okay. I'll tear this whole city apart if I have to, and I still could be too late. It could already be too late, she thought. No, Sam, don't think this way. You will find her and if she has been hurt you will heal her and everything will be fine.

Rationally Sam knew that she probably was only deluding herself but she needed the internal pep-talk. After a while she tried to focus on the next step. Elliot, John and Fin were trying to find the gang that had attacked Cassie and her friends based on the descriptions the girls had given. Perhaps she could give them a hand. So, she pulled the laptop out and opened the federal database for tattoos and other body modifications; unfortunately she came up empty.

Sam started to pace the length of the corridor. This was all taking much longer than she had anticipated, but she needed the help of the police and to get this help she first needed a signature on a damned piece of paper. So, she had to exert some patience. Oh, how she hated bureaucracy!

Olivia had promised her that she would take her to the scene of the attack, the same alley where the body had been found. She was not sure what she expected to find, perhaps she only wanted to get a feel for the place, perhaps they would find their first clue there.

Sam continued to pace.

When Novak's office door finally opened more than an hour had passed. Olivia looked at the same time more relaxed and distinctly worried. "Hey Olivia, will she be alright?"

"In time, yes. However, she can not help us. It's beyond the authority of an ADA. We'll either need a judge, the big boss himself or a bureau chief."

"Should we really leave Miss Novak alone, Olivia?" Sam asked.

"We won't. I called a mutual friend. She should be here any minute now."

As if she had been waiting for her cue the elevator doors opened and Serena Sutherly stepped out of the car. The former homicide ADA hurried towards them, all the while devouring Sam with her eyes. And just as she would have done with a man Sam paid her intense perusal absolutely no apparent attention. Despite her usual flair for drama, Serena only waved at Olivia and then disappeared behind Novak's door without a word.

"Alright," Olivia said, "back to business. The only judge I know good enough to ask for such a favor is on vacation and District Attorney Branch would never do it, especially not if it's me asking."

"So, that leaves a bureau chief. What is a bureau chief, by the way?" Sam asked.

"An ADA who has a couple of other ADAs and a bunch of junior ADAs, most of them fresh out of law school, working under their supervision. It's considered a big stepping stone for everyone with the political ambition to become the man in the big chair themselves one day. I usually don't have much to do with them because they only rarely go to court themselves and SVU has its own ADA. But there's one who might be willing to help us for the sake of the case. At least if I can get her to look past our personal problems."

Sam didn't ask but her inner voice, the one she had nicknamed 'little Jack' couldn't help but mockingly ask what mutual appeal there was between prosecutors and the strong, self-confident detective. Olivia either had read her mind or she had other reasons to trust her because when they walked back towards the elevator to get three stories higher, she said,

"Bureau Chief Alexandra Cabot and I have personal history. She once was the ADA assigned exclusively to our unit, and we fell in love. We kept it low profile but at the one-six everyone knew and at the DAs office it was suspected. I don't hide who I am, but sometimes 'don't-ask-don't tell' is just easier." Sam's sad smile went unnoticed. "We were happy together, but it was not to be. About three and a half years ago a very nasty case led right into the den of a Columbian Drug Cartel, the rape-homicide of an undercover cop. The Feds had them already in their sights and warned us off, but we all were just too stubborn to give up. Alex even managed to get an arrest warrant.

"Velez, the drug lord, had an FBI agent killed and ordered a hit on Alex. She still refused to give up. When she left a bar the next night she was shot. She died in surgery. Three days later Agent Hammond, the leading agent of the Feds, contacted me. He said he wanted to talk about the Velez' case. Alex was there. Her arm was in a heavy sling and she was extremely pale, but at least she was alive. They whisked her away into witness protection.

"Two years later the shooter was found and Alex returned to testify. She wouldn't have had to but Casey, Elliot and I fucked up. We would have lost our jobs, at the least, without her help. It took another year for Velez to finally take the fall. Alex returned to New York. She took the position as bureau chief and is now engaged to an old friend of her family, a financial manager or something like this. – And speaking of the devil…"

-x-x-x-

A tall blonde in an impeccably cut business dress suit just left an office, followed by a distinguished looking man carrying a battered briefcase that didn't seem to fit with the rest of his appearance.

Olivia hurried forward, "Alex, do you have a moment? It's important."

"Li… Detective Benson, this is highly unusual."

"Please, Councilor, I need your help. The life of a young woman is at stake."

Alex looked into Olivia's eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly. She turned to the man, "Robert, please excuse me. We'll have to postpone our talk. Let's go to dinner tomorrow. We'll talk then."

"Alexandra, you won't get rid of me that easily. You are mine and I will not give up. The engagement party is already planned and I won't allow you to back-paddle now. You are mine," Robert said calmly.

"I said we'll talk about it at dinner, Robert, and we will, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. If you would excuse me now, I have work to do. Detective Benson wouldn't be here if it were not important."

"Alright, I'll wait until tomorrow. But if you think that I will let you run away this easily you are sadly mistaken. You are mine, you will be the mother of my children and make my future," he said and handed her the briefcase.

Alex just cast him a disdaining look and turned around.

"Come in and take a seat, Detective. So, what is this all about? As far as I know the one-six has still its own ADA." Alex asked while she slipped out of her own coat, took a seat behind her desk and pulled her glasses out of a pocket.

Olivia didn't answer, she just stared at Alex. "Olivia, talk to me!"

"You're even more beautiful now."

"Olivia Benson, you have no right to talk to me this way after not returning my phone calls or answering my emails for more than two months."

"What!? It wasn't me who said she needed distance to find out who Alex Cabot now really is. I respected your wish and the next thing I hear is that you're getting married to some politically correct broker or other."

They both had their hands flat on the desk and were staring at each other; their voices were far too loud. So, Sam decided to follow Olivia in and close the door.

"Are you out of your mind? I never said anything like that. It's you who refused to contact me. You could at least have the courage to tell me yourself that you have moved on with my successor, but no, you did it in a damned email."

"Email? I don't even have your fucking email address. And Casey Novak is nothing more than a friend," Olivia jelled back.

Suddenly Alex sank back in her chair. "You never were a liar, Liv. Why lie now? I gave you all of my numbers, more than once, but I was obviously not important enough to warrant a call."

Sam saw the pain etched in the blonde woman's face and stepped behind Olivia. She put her arm around the other woman's shoulders. The intimate position would hopefully allow her to catch Olivia's hand should she instinctively act on the intrusion and try to defend herself. Luckily, Olivia didn't try to shake her off.

"Sit down, Olivia. Something is not kosher here." To her own surprise, Olivia followed the order.

"What are you talking about? And who are you? Is something wrong with Elliot?" Alex asked.

"Elliot Stabler is fine. He's busy trying to identify some, you call them perps, I think. My name is Samantha Carter. I'm the reason we are here, so to speak, but lets deal with this other issue first."

Sam was surprised when the others didn't protest her taking charge. "Olivia, how did you get Miss Cabot's message that she needed some space?"

"Please, call me Alex."

"With pleasure. I'm Sam. – Olivia, the message?"

"It was on the voice mail," Olivia answered.

"Do you by any chance still have it?"

Olivia blushed slightly and nodded.

"Let's hear it."

Olivia fumbled with her cell phone and moments later Alex' unmistakable voice came from the speaker. Alex' fair skin visibly paled.

"I swear I never sent such a message. Even if I had felt this way, Liv, which I didn't, I would have told you face to face."

"That's why it hurt so much," Olivia answered tonelessly.

"Alex, you said that you left numerous messages for Olivia, right?"

"For about two and a half months after my return. She never answered."

Olivia was about to protest but Sam stopped her with a shake of her head.

"Call her now, Alex."

Alex pulled her cell phone out of her briefcase and pressed the number one on her speed dial. They all heard how it rang but Olivia's cell that was still lying on the desk stayed conspicuously silent. From Alex' phone came Olivia's voice mail. Olivia and Alex stared at each other, finally they both turned towards Sam.

"How can something like this happen?" Alex asked.

"How do we get the son of a bitch?" Olivia added.

"I'm not sure yet. Could I have a look at your cell phone, Alex?"

"Sure."

Sam pulled a leatherman out of her coat and began to unscrew the casing of the phone. A couple of minutes later she muttered, "Just as I thought."

"What is it, Sam?"

"Someone bugged your phone, and they knew what they were doing. Did you have problems to reach any other of your old friends, Alex?"

"When I couldn't reach Liv I tried practically everyone at the SVU but I only got voicemail or busy lines," Alex answered. "But I still don't understand."

"If I'm not mistaken then someone went to great lengths to keep the two of you separated. I'm sure that if Olivia let your computer guys go over the message on her cell they will find that it has been compiled from different recordings. Now for the cell phone. Do you see the little blank wire leading from the panel to this small bubble over there?"

The other women both nodded.

"Communications technology is not my specialty but I'm sure that it's that what's stopping the calls from coming through."

"Can we trace it?" Olivia asked.

"I doubt it. It looks like a self-contained system; so, there's nothing to trace. But whoever did this probably didn't stop at the cell phone. So, I might be able to trace how the emails are redirected and from where. I'll need a close look at the computer you use."

"My laptop is in my briefcase, but apart from my private stuff there are also a lot of sensitive, confidential files on my hard drive," Alex said.

"To find what I search for I don't have to look at the contents of your files, Alex. I'll check the hardware first and then I'll make a connection with my own laptop to check the file structure. I guess it will take about an hour to set it up, but I don't know how long the trace itself will take. It depends on how good these guys are," Sam said.

"I can see that Olivia trusts you, Sam. So, do what you have to do. In the meantime Liv can fill me in on the case."

Sam nodded and started to work. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw that Olivia and Alex had retired to a delicate Regency sofa that didn't match the impersonal style of the rest of the room. When she looked up a couple of minutes later the other two women were deep in an apparently serious discussion. Even if Olivia had not told her about their history, Sam would have known. They were sitting just a bit too close together to be nothing more than colleagues.

Sitting much closer together than exactly necessary had been what had tipped Daniel off about Janet's and her relationship in the first place. Sam fought the memories down; now was not the time.

Sam opened the laptop casing. She checked the hardware but didn't find anything that was standing out. She then put the machine back together and booted it. A primitive encryption program asked for a twelve digit password. Alex and Olivia were still deep in discussion; so, Sam decided not to interrupt them. She interfaced Alex' computer with her own and began to analyze Alex' data structure from the bottom up.

She found a bot that automatically deleted all emails sent to a number of specific addresses and a surveillance program that registered every single one of the keystrokes made on this computer and sent it out to parts unknown when Alex connected to the internet, but at irregular intervals, not every time. It took a great deal of skill to write programs as deeply embedded in the core as these were. A standard scan would never have found them.

Alex and Olivia had drifted even closer together and suddenly Sam feared that whoever had manipulated the cell phone and laptop was audacious enough to also bug this office. But how to find out? She inconspicuously looked around the room but there was nothing that struck her as suspicious. She needed something better than her own senses.

On Atlantis she simply could have used one of the Ancient's scanners, but here? A smile slid over Sam's face when she remembered the medical kit Jennifer had pressed into her hands. Among others it contained an analyzer that picked up chemicals and radiation. It would only need a few modifications to set it to scan for electrical emissions of any kind, including a camera or listening device. The range would be limited to not more than about a yard but it would be enough.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Olivia asked.

Sam signaled her to stay quiet and finished her scan before she explained about her suspicions.

"It's a logical thought, Sam, but these offices, all the offices in this building are checked for things like this at least once a week at irregular intervals. But what gave you that idea? And what did you use? I never saw something like this."

"I work in a research facility. This is just one of the things we're testing at the moment. Sorry, I can't tell you more." Sam then filled the two women in on what she had found. "I didn't change the programs but the next time they try to download the data from your system the program I set up will trace them and send me a signal."

"Is there any way to force the procedure? Make it faster?" Olivia asked.

"No, I'm sorry. Whoever set this up is very good at what they are doing; I don't want to tip them off. I know it's asking a lot but it would be best if you continued to use your cell and computer as you always do," Sam said.

"Do you think that there could be bugs in my apartment?" Alex asked.

"From what I've found so far, it would only be logical if they covered all of their bases, including your apartment. I'm sorry, Alex."

"You are hardly to blame for that, Sam, but as soon as we find the bastards responsible, I'll go legal on their backsides in a way that they will never again breathe unfiltered air," Alex said calmly but with steel in her voice and changed the subject. "Olivia said that you want to checkout the crime scene. You'll need this."

Alex handed her the signed permission. "If at all possible, please, don't get killed and don't hurt anyone except if absolutely necessary; or it'll be my neck on the line."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"It means that by signing this I take responsibility for your actions, Colonel Carter, please, don't make me regret it."

"I'll try my best, Councilor Cabot. I didn't know that signing this could have consequences for you or we would not have asked."

"I'm a big girl, Sam, and Olivia trusts you, as far as I am concerned that's all I need to know."

"Thank you, Alex; that means a lot to me."

"Alex, I want you to take this," Olivia said and tried to hand Alex a key.

"No, Olivia, I can't take this, but I'll get one of the bug detectors from security and check out my apartment. That's one of the things I learned well in witness protection. If I find anything, I'll pay a visit to my mother; that should be safe enough."

"Promise?"

"Yes, Liv, I promise. I will be safe at the Hamptons, and I promise to call you if I do," Alex answered.

"I hate to say this but we can't be sure that your mother's phone is not bugged too. Call this number," Sam handed Alex a slip of paper. "It's mine and my phone is not traceable."

-x-x-x-

When they stepped out of the DA's building Olivia said, "Let's head back to the one-six. We can check up on the guy's progress and I need to check out a car to head to the crime scene. But this time of the day it will take ages to get there."

"If you don't mind some traffic fumes hitting your nose I can get us there faster," Sam answered.

"What are you talking about?"

"A friend of a friend loaned me some wheels for my stay here," Sam answered.

"Are you talking about a motorbike?" Olivia asked with a hint of interest in her voice.

"Yes, I guess one could call it 'a' motorbike," Sam said with an enigmatic smile.

Before Olivia could comment on her expression her cell phone rang. Elliot wanted to know if they had already checked out the crime scene. "We're on our way there. Did you find anything?"

"Not yet. Fin and Munch headed over to the gang unit. It seems as if a lot of their clients are not yet in our database. Huang is going over the data Colo… Sam collected for us and I'm about to join Melinda at the CSU to go over the sparse forensic evidence we have."

"Alright, El. Call if you find anything."

"Will do, and Liv, take care, this part of town is more dangerous than its reputation."

"Yes, Mama El, but don't you forget that we're big girls with big bad guns."

"Sorry, Sam, he's a bit overprotective," Olivia said after she had put the phone away.

"He's your partner, Olivia; it's his job to have your six. Here we are. So, you're ready to brave New York traffic?"

Olivia looked at the Harley with open surprise. "That must be some friend you have here."

"Friend of a friend, actually, but I too was surprised." Sam pulled two helmets out of a saddlebag and put her laptop bag in.

Olivia was a good backseat rider who went with the flow and Sam even had fun maneuvering the heavy bike through the afternoon rush, avoiding the traffic jams on Canal Street and the Avenue of the Americas. So, they reached the alley where the girls had been attacked in less than fifteen minutes. It was starting to get dark in the narrow side street but there still was enough light to see the white contours of the body on the ground. Sam used the headlight of the Harley to sweep the dirty ground and a bit further back it reflected off something.

Sam knelt down and found a gold chain with a locket. Inlaid small diamonds formed the symbol of eternity on the lid. She remembered the day Janet and she had given it to Cassie. It had been on her twelfth birthday. Sam had haunted the anthropologists and technicians going over the video material from Hanka for days until they had found a picture of Cassie's parents. Cassie never took it off and as soon as she had been able she had added a picture of Sam and Janet to it.

Every instinct Sam had screamed at her to let it disappear in the safety of her pocket but instead she put it in an evidence bag Olivia was holding for her. "It's Cassie's. With a bit of luck we'll find a fingerprint on the casing."

Still further down the alley they found the prints of four motorcycles, one classic and three wimpy toys, according to Sam, fancy bikes for people who cared more about looks than performance.

"How do you know so much about bikes, Sam? I thought the Air Force was all about planes."

"The Air Force is, but a girl needs a hobby. I have two bikes, in storage at the moment because there's no chance to drive them at my base. And when Daniel told me that the girls had described their attackers as bikers, I brushed up on my knowledge. It was an eight and a half hours flight. I had to keep myself busy," Sam answered and continued the search.

A few minutes later Olivia found a bloodied patch. It looked as if it had been torn off the sleeve of a jacket. Sam used the medical scanner and found two types of blood, one with a specific protein marker and traces of naqadah.

Olivia gave her the same speculative look she had already received in Alex' office and asked, "Nice gadget, can it also predict the weather?"

"Yes, it's a nice gadget, top secret and not really here. It has been designed as a medical scanner but with a few tweaks it can do more. As I already said, basically my base is dedicated to research and development. At the moment these things are too expensive to build on a larger scale but one day it might become a common tool."

"Like a tricorder from Star Trek?" Olivia asked with a mischievous grin.

Sam grinned back and said, "Actually, you're not too far off." Her 'little Jack' voice added, 'Ancient technology is to Star Trek what we are to the Neanderthals'.

Before she had a chance to say more three men jumped from behind a dumpster and threatened them with knives.

"Get out of our way!" Sam said. "This is a police investigation."

"And I'm Mother Theresa. No way, we'll take your wallets, your watches, your cunts, not necessarily in that order, and then we might let you go," their leader apparent said.

"You and what army?" Sam asked and then seemed to turn her attention completely towards Olivia. "Detective Benson, what do you think? Are they a special breed or are all of the wanna-be robbers in your city this stupid?"

"A special breed, I guess; dumb, dumber, and dumbest."

The men decided that they had heard enough and attacked. Number one ran face first in Sam's elbow. She ducked the right hook of the second and brought him to his knees with a kick to his groin. Number three had pulled a baseball bat from behind his back and was swinging it at Olivia, albeit with only moderate skill.

He was so focused on his prey that he didn't see how Sam came up from behind. Her right hand found his neck and collarbone, she pressed down and he sank bonelessly to the filthy ground. The second attacker had come back on his feet and an elegant roundhouse kick let his knife fly out of his hand. Sam's fist hit his chin and he followed his friend into dreamland. The first attacker tried to run, but Olivia brought him down with a well-timed throw of the baseball bat.

The whole fight had lasted less than a minute and the two women high-fived before they cuffed the thugs to each other.

After Olivia had called dispatch to have a patrol car pick them up, she asked, "The guy with the bat, what did you do to him?"

"Vulcan neck pinch," Sam answered with a grin.

"Don't pull my leg, Sam."

"It was you who brought up Star Trek in the first place, and it was only half a joke. Pressure points work. Though this one only works under special circumstances. First there has to be an element of surprise and second your intended target should not be too well muscled at the neck. One has to press passed the layer of muscles… I can teach you how to do it if you like."

"Yes, I'd like that, if we have the time."

"Good, later then. So, what do we do after we get rid of these guys?" Sam asked with a nod of her head towards the men who were slowly regaining consciousness.

"The locket and the torn patch have to go to the lab for fingerprints and blood tests, and then I want to have a little talk with the two officers on call when Cassandra disappeared, and with their superior. Apart from that, all we can do is wait, for the lab results and for Munch and Fin to come up with the ID of at least one of our perps. And I hate waiting!" Olivia said.

"Who doesn't?" Sam answered with a smile.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	4. Chapter 4: the 33rd Precinct

**CH 04: The 33rd Precinct**

When the squad car finally arrived more then twenty minutes after the call to dispatch Olivia recognized the number of the cruiser and asked Sam to let her do the talking. It were the same officers who should have filed the report on Cassandra and her friends but had not. When they climbed out she had a pretty good idea of what had happened last Thursday night. Both were of middle age and overweight. In the time it took them to get out of their car a suspect could have run half a block, and Olivia doubted that either of them would be able to run even this far without risking a coronary. It probably had been close to the end of their shift and they had been pissed off that dealing with the girls had made them late.

She didn't like the way the men looked at them but to Olivia's surprise they at least sounded professional, "Detective Benson? I'm Officer Kasperski, this is Officer Romeno. We were told you have a packet for us?"

"Yes, over there, book them for attempted robbery, attempted rape and assault on a police officer. We'll come by later to give our depositions. I hope the emergency you had to deal with earlier has turned out alright," Olivia said.

"What emergency?" Romeno asked.

"Since it took you twenty minutes to answer a call for assistance from a fellow officer, Officer Romeno, I have to assume that you were caught up in an emergency."

"Detective, you know how it is this time of the day. Everything slows down and takes a bit longer." Kasperski came to his colleague's aide.

Olivia's eyes flashed angrily but she was not about to have such a discussion in the middle of the street with three by now very awake prisoners avidly listening in. The office of their captain would be a much better place to do this.

"Be that as it may, Officers. We have to go now. Oh, and when we come in later to make the charges on these three goons stick, could you have the report on the incident from Thursday night copied and ready for us?" She asked calmly.

"Thursday? The body was found on Friday, and we had nothing to do with it. You'll have to ask Riviera and Bernstein," Kasperski said.

"I suggest you check your records and files as soon as you get back to the precinct and have these three booked. I'm sure you will find what we need in time. Thursday night, around two thirty, five or six men attacking four young women on the way to a club, right here in this alley, does that ring any bells?" Olivia answered, and she didn't even try to keep her disdain out of her voice.

Romeno took a step in her personal space and raised his hand as if to poke her in the chest, "Listen, woman, your gold shield does not give you the right to look down on the cops who are doing the real work here. We don't need any busy bodies and bleeding hearts from sex crimes to tell us if something is worth writing a report. Got me?"

Romeno was a bit taller than Olivia and tried to intimidate her with his bulk. His partner pulled him away and sent him to put the attackers in the car and read them their rights.

"Please forgive my partner, Detective Benson. He's having a hard time at the moment. His wife left him. I'll make sure that you have complete access to our files when you come in later."

"Thank you, Officer Kasperski. See that you do; and tell your commanding officer that I'd like a word or two with them. What your partner just said spoke of more than just a hard time, and the way you handled the incident on Thursday could well have contributed to endangering the life of an innocent young woman."

Though her voice had been calm and composed, Olivia was seething inside. The gall of those men. She turned around and walked towards the bike, Sam directly on her heels.

-x-x-x-

They dropped their new-found evidence off at the lab. Olivia had the technician on duty dust the locket for fingerprints immediately, but apart from Cassandra's there were none. She had him photograph it and put it into Sam's hands.

"But Olivia, that's evidence."

"Yes, it is, but since there are no other fingerprints this particular piece of evidence won't make or break the case. I'll just sign some papers that it has been checked and that I handed it over to the next of kin of our missing person, with the understanding that it has to be returned temporarily should the need arise. Don't worry, Sam, it's perfectly legal."

"Thank you, Olivia. That means a lot to me," Sam answered with a smile that for once reached her eyes.

"You're welcome, Sam. What do you think about something to eat before we confront the morons at the three-three?"

"I'm not particularly hungry but I should at least try to eat something. This is your turf, so, what do you propose?"

"Would Chinese be alright? There's a small hole in the wall place just across the street. They have the best Cantonese chicken ever," Olivia answered.

-x-x-x-

Ten minutes later they were safely tucked into a booth in the back of the restaurant. Olivia had been greeted like a long lost family member, at least that's what it had looked like to Sam, but over the course of their meal she had ample opportunity to observe that every regular costumer was greeted this way. They already had ordered. Olivia had a tall glass of apple juice sitting in front of her and Sam was sniffing the scent of steeping jasmine tea appreciatively.

Teyla would like it. I should bring some back with me.

The thought surprised her. Yes, Teyla was a friend, a good friend even. She understood the burden and the joys of command better than anyone else. Sam could count on her, but there always has been an invisible wall between them, a wall none of them wanted to touch or even acknowledge. Sometimes Sam could see it in Teyla's eyes, just as Teyla could see it in hers: the shadow of a love lost, of a price paid too high to talk about. And yet when Teyla had embraced her before she had stepped through the Gate, she had whispered, "Come back, Sam. I don't want to loose you too."

A hand on her lower arm brought Sam out of her musings. "Sam, your cell phone is ringing."

Sam blinked a few times before she pulled it out of her jacket. She didn't recognize the number but opened the line anyway. It was Alex. Sam gave the phone to Olivia, and since she was close enough to hear both sides of the conversation she debated with herself if she should take a trip to the restroom to give them some privacy. Olivia, however, kept her hand firmly on her lower arm and she didn't want to begrudge the other woman her unspoken need for contact or even comfort.

"Alex, are you alright?"

"Not really, Liv, a bit shell-shocked, I guess. I found bugs, lots of them, in every single room of my apartment, listening devices, as far as I can tell. I'm on my way to the Hamptons now."

"Two hours out and back, isn't this a bit far to spend the night? You can still have the keys to my apartment. I'll even sleep in the crib if it'll make you more comfortable," Olivia said.

"Don't be silly, Liv. I certainly won't keep you from your warm, comfortable bed. No, it will be alright. I told Arthur that I felt a migraine coming and that I was taking tomorrow off. He agreed without even blinking. He knows that if I don't cure them right away they'll knock me out for at least a week."

"Migraines? I was always the one with the headaches. Are you sure you should be driving?"

"Don't worry, Liv. This time it was only a pretext, physically I'm fine. The migraines are leftovers from witness protection. My shrink says that in time they will go away on their own and not to worry about it. I just wanted you to know about the bugs and give you the number of my new cell. It will only be active by tomorrow afternoon, but I still wanted you to have it."

"Thank you, Alex. Let me get something to write. Okay, I'm ready," Olivia said and began to input a string of numbers in her own cell phone. "Drive carefully, Alex, and let your mother and Antonia pamper you. And try to relax, Sam and I will find whoever is responsible for all of this."

"I'll try, Liv. Don't work too long and don't forget to get something to eat. I know how you are in the middle of an important case," Alex said.

"You caught us at Uncle Hong's, Alex. Thank you for caring. Good night."

Olivia hastily ended the call and stared at the phone with big, unbelieving eyes. "She sounded just like before, so caring and stubborn, just as if she would still love me."

Sam knew that the other woman didn't expect an answer. Then Olivia looked up. There was deep pain in her eyes but also a tiny sliver of hope.

"She still cares, maybe there is still hope for us. But she's engaged to be married, so that ship has sailed," Olivia said more to herself than to Sam. When Sam put her right hand on top of her left, she added, "I'm sorry, Sam. You have enough on your plate. I shouldn't drag you into my problems."

"You don't, Olivia, after all it was I who put my nose in it earlier this day. And if you want to hear my two-cents…" Olivia nodded mutely. "Alex would not have tried to get in contact with you for over two months before she gave up if she didn't still have feelings for you, Olivia. I saw it in her eyes when she thought you were lying. And as for her engagement, I don't think this Robert fellow will be in the picture for much longer."

"What makes you say that? He's the perfect choice for Alexandra Cabot, comes from the right family with their own estate at the Hamptons, will never be accused to only be with her for her money, and he can give her children," Olivia said defensively.

"That might all be true, but the few seconds I saw him he almost treated her like property and not like a woman he really loves." Sam saw the doubt in Olivia's brown eyes. "It's like the briefcase, Alex' briefcase, old and battered as it is, one can see that it fits her. It belongs to her. The Regency sofa in her office, however, does not fit her, it fits Robert, and they both don't belong there.

"And if you don't trust my instincts, trust my observational skills. Alex was not wearing a ring, Olivia."

Olivia's eyes widened even further. "But rumors say that he gave her a rock the size of the Empire State Building."

"If he did, she was not wearing it today."

The arrival of their order stopped the conversation for a moment and they tucked in. Sam moaned at the first bite. She had chosen twice roasted beef in a Hoisin sauce with assorted vegetables. The meat had been marinated in soy sauce and spices and almost melted on the tongue. It smelled heavenly, the rice was just right and the vegetables tasted as if they had just come fresh from the garden. She swallowed slowly and took her next bite. It tasted just as heavenly and this time she closed her eyes as if it would allow her to savor it a bit longer. Olivia chuckled softly at her next audible moan. Sam heard it and blushed furiously.

She looked at Olivia's twinkling brown eyes and started to laugh. Olivia joined in and soon they were attracting the attention of the rest of the patrons. They both knew that their reaction was far out of proportion considering the situation. However, they also knew that they had both needed the outlet to calm their ragged nerves, Sam more than Olivia, though the SVU detective was pretty shaken by the mere thought of perhaps having Alex back in her life.

Sam was the first to regain her composure. "I'm sorry, Olivia. I'll try to control myself better, but it's been months since I had a chance to eat something like this. I guess it's one of the occupational hazards if one lives on a base in the middle of nowhere."

"Don't worry about it, Sam. At the most these people will think that they stumbled in a rehearsal of an off-Broadway remake of Harry and Sally, and old Hong, the head cook here, will take it as a compliment," Olivia answered.

They spent the rest of their meal in companionable silence, only smiling at each other from time to time. As soon as they had finished Olivia ordered the check but instead they each got a small plate with freshly pealed litchis, brought in by Uncle Hong himself. He bowed to them and told them that he was honored that they had enjoyed his humble efforts so much.

Olivia blushed and Sam told him in halting Mandarin that they were humbled having been allowed to partake of his heavenly gift. He answered with a small torrent of words.

"I'm sorry, but what I just said is about all I learned. A friend taught me a few things but it was not enough to allow me to understand you. Please forgive my shortcomings," Sam answered.

The old man bowed again and said with the tiniest hint of a smile, "Your friend is a good teacher; he not only taught you the words but their spirit. I hear it in the way you spoke them. I said that in the future you will be as welcome here as Detective Olivia and that I see your presence as a good omen for the return of sun-hair at her side." Predictably Olivia blushed at the veiled mention of Alex.

"Thank you, Master Hong. I hope that you are right," Sam answered and then asked for the check.

"Today, lan se yan jing bing, you are my guests." He turned around and disappeared back into the kitchen before Sam even had the chance to bow in respect.

-x-x-x-

On the way back to Sam's bike Olivia said, "You are full of surprises, Sam."

Sam smiled, "It's nothing, Olivia, everyone can learn to say 'thank you' in a dozen languages. The friend I spoke of, he's an archaeologist and a linguist. He went a step further and taught us all to respect other cultures and he always insisted on maintaining the proper forms. He's the one who called earlier, Doctor Daniel Jackson."

They had reached the Harley, "So, to cite an old Country & Western song, 'Where do we go from here'?"

"The three-three. I think those morons had enough time to come up with either a report or a believable cover story. I'm so looking forward to read them the riot act," Olivia answered.

Sam only nodded and mounted the bike. Olivia followed and a short time later they entered the station house. The desk sergeant led them to an interrogation room where a detective took their depositions, and immediately after they were escorted to the captain's office.

Behind a desk filled to overflowing with neatly stacked piles of files sat a woman, ostensibly reading. She had her head down, but the strands of silver in her hair let Sam think that she was in her early to mid-fifties and didn't see any reason to hide her age.

She looked up and Olivia stammered, "Sergeant Halloran!"

Grey eyes twinkled in mischief, "Detective Rookie, long time no see." The woman rounded her desk and embraced Olivia.

"Wow! It's good to see you, Sarge. I thought you left our fair city for less polluted air."

"I did, but there's no place like home, and I was lucky enough to not only get my job back but a promotion too, Detective Rookie. So, you are the, and I quote, 'damned arrogant SVU detective' who uses my men as a shuttle service and has no respect for their field experience and knowledge? And who is your partner?"

"I guess we're talking about Officers Romeno and Kasperski, right?" The older woman nodded. "That's one way to put it, Captain. I called dispatch to have three perps picked up who had the misfortune to attack us in an alley off Hudson Street. It took them twenty-two minutes to arrive, I guess they were on a bagel break. Then I asked for access to a report from Thursday night that should have also gone to hate crimes and missing persons and Officer Romeno saw fit to try to intimidate me and badmouthed me."

Seeing the shock and disbelief on the captain's face, Olivia added, "Sam, could you show Captain Halloran the eye witness reports given to the Denver police by Cassandra Fraiser's friends?"

Sam nodded, pulled the laptop out of her bag, booted it and opened the files in question. For a few minutes deep silence settled on the room, then Captain Halloran reached for her phone.

"Sergeant, get Kasperski and Romeno in my office, yesterday." Her grey eyes studied Olivia. "You know that if this goes public they both can kiss their pensions good-bye, right?"

"Yes, Captain, but I work for Special Victims, not for the rat squad. However, I thought that at least their commanding officer needed to know. I never expected that it would be you."

"You were right, Detective Rookie. I called them in to answer any questions you might have. Leave the rest to me, I'll deal with them. And now, introduce your partner, or did you forget everything I once taught you?"

"Sam, Captain Jessica Halloran once was my training's officer when I was fresh out of the Academy. Captain meet Colonel Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force and at the moment a temporary officer of the court." Olivia then gave a short version of what had happened this day, and from the expression on her former teacher's face Kasperski and Romeno were in for a serious dressing-down, at least.

Shortly after the two officers arrived the captain asked them to wait outside but they still could hear what was said inside, because after Romeno had stormed in his partner only pushed the door closed without making sure that it was really shut.

"Captain, I request that this sex crimes detective be officially reprimanded for the way she treated her fellow officers," Romeno demanded. "She practically accused us of being incompetent and lazy. I've been a beat cop for almost twenty years. I know what I'm doing."

"Shut up, Romeno. According to your last call in you were only two blocks away when dispatch sent you to support Detective Benson. Don't tell me that it took you twenty minutes to get to the scene, you would have had to push the car for it to take this long," Halloran said in a calm and yet forceful voice that could have peeled paint off a wall.

Olivia cringed and at Sam's questioning look she explained, "She's mad, really mad. She only used this tone of voice once with me, when I had forgotten to put on my Kevlar vest. Believe me, it never happened again."

"Captain," Kasperski stepped up to the desk, "dispatch said that the situation was under control. We saw no need to hurry, and we were on a coffee break. There was no harm done and I already apologized to Detective Benson for my partner's heated reaction."

"That's something we will talk about tomorrow morning. I want both of you in my office at eight o'clock sharp to talk about your service records and about dedication to duty, because, gentlemen, let's be frank here, even if I disregard today's abysmal treatment of a fellow officer, Thursday evening you really lost the ball. I guess the report Detective Benson asked you about has not suddenly and miraculously reappeared, right?"

"I took notes, Captain, but there never was a report," Kasperski said in a surprising bout of honesty. "A girl who runs away from her friends, and friends who come up with a gay bashing story just to avoid having to face the girl's parents with the truth. It happens every day and was not worth writing a report over. I admit that they usually don't stop us on the street and they were really good actresses, but please, a young woman trying to hold back five or six attackers, just to allow her friends to get away, that's ridiculous."

"So, since you are all knowing, you decided that they were lying, right?" Captain Halloran gestured towards the door for Olivia and Sam to come in. "Colonel Carter, do you think your daughter could defend herself against these two officers if she had to?"

"With all due respect, Ma'am, but Cassandra Fraiser could wipe the floor with these men even with one hand bound behind her back." Sam's eyes were cold as ice and her voice was not far behind. "She has been trained in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat since she was eleven years old; her teachers were special ops specialists from the Marines and the Air Force. Her skill level exceeds a black belt in karate or tae-kwan-do."

"But, how should we have known and there was no sign of a fight." Kasperski stammered. "And what has the frigging military to do with all of this?"

"Officer Kasperski, we are not here for you to question Detective Benson or Colonel Carter but for both of you to answer their questions. Besides, when they searched the alley earlier this day, they found evidence that there has been a fight and that Cassandra Fraiser was involved. The discussion of your attitude and your actions which in my eyes bordered on criminal negligence is something we'll do tomorrow morning. Detective Benson, they're all yours."

It came as no big surprise to Sam that Officer Kasperski was the one who tried to answer Olivia's questions while Romeno had lapsed into some sort of sullen silence. Olivia asked about gang activity in the area, hang-out spots for new groups, about lurkers, biker bars and a man with a tattoo on the back of his hand. Kasperski gave them the names of two bars off Hudson Street and they decided to check them out.

The first one had been a complete bust. The so-called biker bar turned out to be a high-rise club for yuppies who prided themselves for their wild streak. There were a few highly-polished bikes parked on the outside and the interior was just as highly polished. From the bar to the pool table everything was done in gleaming chrome, the over-priced drinks were named after famous motorbikes and the characters of the film Easy Rider. Olivia had to show her badge to even get them inside, but the barkeeper and the two servers almost fainted dead at the thought that someone with a tattoo on his hand would even think of entering their club.

The second bar had a more authentic feel to it and a couple of the bikes out front even passed Sam's critical scrutiny. So, they decided to first have a look around before they started to ask questions. Olivia ordered a beer and Sam a Coke light.

Olivia arched an eyebrow and Sam answered with a shrug of her shoulders, "I like the taste better."

When they had finished their drinks without seeing anything of interest for their case, Olivia asked a few questions and came up just as empty as in the first bar. But that was something they should have expected; though more down to earth than the first one the bar was still not seedy enough to attract the kind of clientele for which they were on the look-out.

After they had left Olivia said, "I'm sorry, Sam, but we'll have to wait until the guys come up with something more substantial."

"I understand, Olivia, I just hate waiting. Let me bring you home to get some shut-eye. If you want to I can pick you up tomorrow morning," Sam said with a reassuring smile.

"Where are you going to sleep, Sam? Do you have a room reserved?"

"Not exactly, Nick, the friend who loaned me the bike said I could come over and use his guest room. He has a house on Staten Island."

"I can't offer you a guest room, but I have a very comfortable couch in my apartment if you want. It takes at least half an hour to drive out to Staten Island and tomorrow morning it will even take longer to get back to Manhattan." Olivia said.

"I don't want to intrude in your private life, Olivia." Sam protested.

"I wouldn't have offered if I saw it as an intrusion, Sam. Come, let's go. You said that you didn't sleep last night, you must be dead tired."

"I usually don't sleep much, Olivia, but you're right, I could use some shut-eye. Under one condition, tell me why Captain Halloran calls you Detective Rookie." Sam relented and mounted the bike.

Olivia laughed, "I was fresh out of the Academy and she was my training's officer. The first day when we were on a coffee break, she asked me why I chose to become a police officer, the first Special Victims Unit had been formed just before and I told her that I wanted to become a detective with SVU. It was Saturday afternoon and the traffic was a real pain. A call came in; she gave me the car keys. I hesitated because I had been told that training's officers like to drive themselves. She pushed me out of the coffee shop and said, 'You're not a detective yet, Rookie, get going.' The rest of the shift she varied that a couple of times and finally came up with 'Detective Rookie'. It kinda stuck."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	5. Chapter 5: Of Dreams and Nightmares

**Ch 05: Of Dreams and Nightmares**

Olivia and Sam put the Harley in Olivia's rarely used underground parking spot and took the stairs to go up to her fifth story apartment, even though the elevator was in perfect working order. The first things Sam noticed about Olivia's apartment was that it had a homey feel to it and that it was meticulously clean with not even a single speck of dust anywhere in sight. Had Sam been a betting person she would have wagered a month's pay that there also would not be any dust under or behind the furniture. With a smile she observed what obviously was Olivia's daily routine.

The dark haired woman first got rid of her shoes. She wriggled her toes as if she wanted to be sure that they were still attached and in perfect working order, only then did she get out of her leather jacket and put it away. She then walked over to a safe what was embedded in a wall at chest height. A framed picture was leaning against the wall right under it with the motif hidden from view. Sam guessed that Olivia simply didn't see any need to bother with putting it back in place every time she used the safe. She put her service weapon and the holster in the safe and closed the door.

"Do you want mine in there as well, Olivia?" Sam asked.

"No, Sam, thanks for the offer, but it's not necessary. I do this more out of habit than out of necessity. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you, not at the moment. Just do what you usually do when you come home after a long day at work, Olivia. I'll try to stay out of your way."

"Are you sure that you don't want something to drink?" Sam nodded. "Alright, then… Do you want to take a shower or need to use the bathroom?" Sam shock her head in the negative. "Well, you're an easy guest to have. Make yourself comfortable. The TV remote is on the couch table. I'll be back in a few minutes. I need a shower."

Sam put her saddlebags to the right of the couch and then decided that she could as well change into something less confining than her leather pants. So, she dug a pair of sweatpants, thick socks and a long-sleeved black T-shirt out of her bag. A minute later she booted the laptop and checked for new data. When she checked the BAU files a blinking icon alerted her that someone was trying to identify and locate her unauthorized access. It was easily blocked but the fact that there even was a trace told her that whoever was responsible for their computers was damned good at what they were doing.

Sam accessed the files about the serial killer they unimaginatively had nick-named 'the slicer'. It now was protected by a second level of encryption she simply bypassed. Trying to decode it would have automatically triggered an alert and a sniffer program. The elegant way the trap had been set up let Sam to think that their computer tech was a woman; men usually tried to prove their superiority, but this little program was not playing around. Sam made a mental note to be more careful the next time she wanted to hack into the BAU database. She sighed, under other circumstances this measuring of skills could really have been fun.

The CSU database told her that Melinda had put a rush order on any evidence having to do with their case. That meant that the DNA results from the bloody patch Olivia had found should be available by early afternoon tomorrow.

Melinda, meeting her again after all this time had been a surprise. Melinda had been a god-sent in the weeks after her capture. Sam had trusted her with her nightmares, the one recurring nightmare of her being raped again and again by the Iraqi commander and his men, of her cries for mercy going unheard, of the moment she did no longer try to fight back but just let them do it…

Sam took a deep breath. She had not thought about this particular mission in years, not since she had told Janet about it in the middle of their second year with Stargate Command. She might never have talked about it, if not for that idiot Mackenzie, their resident shrink. Frustrated by the wide-spread refusal of SG-team members to go and talk to him after traumatic missions, he had taken it upon himself to go through their personal files in search for what he had called 'risk indicators'.

Reading about the botched up mission in Iraq had been all the ammunition he needed to try to get her barred from active field duty, pending a thorough psych evaluation. He had argued that the trauma of her capture and rape all those years ago was a latent danger for any off-world mission, as if she were a pack of C-4 only waiting for the right trigger to explode. The bastard had even had the gall to bring it up in the conference room, in front of everyone, her team, General Hammond, Janet, Major Davis.

At least she had had the satisfaction of General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill ripping into him at the mere suggestion. It had felt good to hear O'Neill say that he trusted her with his life in every situation and that if Mackenzie wanted to treat someone for PTSD he should start with the special ops specialists who crash-landed the mission with their sloppy intel in the first place and had to be rescued by a just out of flight school, wet behind the ears Air Force Lieutenant. The blow to their ego must have been tremendous. Unfortunately, the next night the old nightmare had returned with a vengeance and Janet had gotten her to talk about it. Janet had understood, not the least because of her experiences in Bosnia where treating victims of rape and abuse had been an everyday occurrence.

Sam was pulled out of her musings by the sound of a glass being put in front of her, "You look like you could use this. You just were miles away."

Olivia had changed into a pair of shorts and a slightly oversized T-shirt. Her hair was still damp from the shower and her brown eyes showed concern. Sam looked at the tumbler with the amber liquid, her nose identified old scotch and for the fraction of a heartbeat she longed to feel the gentle burn it would create going done.

"Thank you, Olivia, that's very kind of you, but I don't drink."

"Is there an Air Force regulation against single malt?" Olivia asked.

Sam laughed, "If such a regulation existed most of the officers would rather transfer out to join the Navy than stay. No, I once made a promise and in the last years to keep that promise I found it easier to stay away from any kind of alcohol. I'm not sure I could stop if I even took one sip."

Sam was surprised that she was this honest with Olivia. Technically she was still a stranger, they hadn't know each other for more than half a day, but she was a stranger who had opened her home to her and though it was illogical she trusted the detective.

Olivia poured the liquid back into the bottle with practiced ease and put the bottle back into the kitchen cabinet, "I know what you're talking about, Sam, there are days when I feel the same way. Even after all these years most cases follow me home and some of them are so heart-wrenching that I want nothing more than to crawl into a bottle and never come out again."

"You really understand," Sam said with a certain surprise tinting her voice.

"My mother was an alcoholic. I couldn't save her from herself but I learned enough how to avoid joining her. On days I'm honest with myself I admit that I'm a borderline alcoholic myself. Da… Captain Cragen is keeping an eye on me when things get especially tough. I hope you have someone too."

"Borderline alcoholic, I think that's a good description. Yes, I have someone who keeps an eye on me as much as he can, my godfather. The promise I made was to him. I promised him that I never again would drink to dull my senses or my feelings, and I already broke it once. I'll do my best to let it never happen again," Sam answered.

"You don't have to tell me, Sam, if it hurts you too much," Olivia said empathically.

"You don't have to listen if you don't want to, Olivia. I know we're still practically strangers to each other," Sam voiced her earlier thoughts, "but not only did you take me into your home, you also allowed me to see beyond your professional mask, you deserve my trust and honesty. And to my surprise I find that I'd like to tell you."

"And I'd like to hear it. You are right, by any outward appearances we are strangers but to me it feels like strangers who have known each other their whole life." Olivia had taken a seat next to Sam on the couch.

"I don't know how to tell this without it sounding like your average sob-story." Olivia's brown eyes, so similar and yet so different from Janet's let her continue. "My mother died in a car accident when I was fourteen. My older brother, Mark, went off to College the day after her funeral. My father sent me to a military grief councilor who was only used to deal with distraught wives whose husbands had died for their country. His words did nothing to help me and I still have not a good track record with psychologists. My father was abroad on one mission or the other, and no one cared when I started to drink.

"I continued to have straight As in class but I lost my place on all of the sports' teams because I was continuously late for practice or didn't show up at all. The police caught me on my fifteenth birthday driving my father's jeep. I had no driver's license and was dead drunk. My father was unavailable; so, they called my godfather. Uncle George bailed me out but instead of reading me the riot act he listened. He took time off, brought me home to his family and sobered me up.

"When I went to College the next year I promised him not to drink when I had problems or was feeling depressed. I still went out for a beer with the guys or had some wine for dinner etcetera, but I kept my promise, until Janet was killed. It was so easy to fall back into the habit, it would have been frightening had I really thought about it. Uncle George was in Washington. He didn't know what I was up to in Colorado Springs, but Cassie saw it. One day when I was once again running late she told me that she would move out and live with Daniel if I didn't stop it. She told me that Janet would never allow me to drown myself in self-pity. Cassie saved me; she reminded me of my promise and I haven't touched a drop of booze since."

"Wow!" Olivia said, "that took a lot of strength. I promise, we'll do everything in our power to get your daughter back." To change the topic she added, "Did you just say that you were sixteen when you went to College? What are you Einstein?"

"Well, as I recall Melinda told you that I once was an overachiever," Sam answered with a smile, thankful to move the conversation to something less painful.

The two women spent another hour talking about New York and other mostly neutral topics. They both seemed to have an innate sense when something threatened to hit too close to home for the other and then quickly brought up something else. Then Olivia dug out some sheets, a pillow and a blanket for Sam and they called it a night.

-x-x-x-

Samantha had half expected to find herself back in her old nightmare about her capture during the Gulf War, instead her mind once again repeated the same dream she had had every night since Janet's death. Actually, it was more like an endless series of dreams mixed with memories; dreams about making love to Janet, about holding her in her arms, crying in her arms after a crappy mission, Janet kissing the tears away and allowing her to be weak without censure. They were dreams as vivid as reality and this night was no exception.

Sam was lying on her stomach in front of a roaring fire place in Jack O'Neill's cabin. She was naked and the heat from the burning hickory logs began to seep into her tense muscles. No, it was Janet who was slowly massaging the tension out of her body. Janet was straddling her thighs and touching her in all the right places.

They had arrived close to two hours earlier and Sam had immediately fled to the back of the house and started to reduce big chunks of wood to nothing more than kindling. Her shoulders and arms were burning from the rare workout, but it had done nothing to get her more relaxed.

Janet had finally called her in and led her to the small bathroom with the surprisingly big shower stall. She had undressed her and washed her and dried her with one of the big fluffy towels they had brought with them. She then had led her to the mountain of cushions and blankets she had arranged in front of the fireplace and made her lie down. All without a single word.

Janet found all the knots in her back and shoulders. The tension ebbed out of Sam's body but her mind still refused to join in, but then Janet's ministrations stopped being solely therapeutic. It started with a tingling that slowly expanded from the base of her skull along her spine down to her buttocks.

Janet's hands seemed to be everywhere at once, and though she still was only touching her back it soon felt as if her whole body was on fire. As if drawn inside of herself Sam's thoughts turned away from her anger over the last mission to yet another misogynistic planet. For a short while she marveled over her beloved's ever increasing skill but then she closed her eyes and simply let go.

Sam felt Janet's fingertips at her waist, light touches like the wings of a butterfly. They wandered upwards to the side of her breasts. Sam moaned and tried to press her torso upwards by getting on her elbows to allow Janet better access. Janet removed her hands completely and only when Sam was back down on the pillows with her hands safely tucked under her head did the hands return.

Sam moaned again and was rewarded with a slightly firmer touch. So, she no longer tried to get up but gave herself completely over to Janet's loving care. Janet's hands traveled down her back again and found their way on her firm buttocks. They only stroked them for a few fleeting moments, then she felt how Janet raised herself off of her.

"It's time to turn around, my Sam. Keep your eyes closed. I want you to do nothing but enjoy."

Sam obeyed but she opened her eyes and found Janet's brown orbs. "I need to see you, Jan. I need to see you and to touch you to know that it's real. I need to feel that you're more than just a dream."

"I'm yours, Sam, tell me what you want and we'll make it happen, love."

"I need to feel that I'm yours. I need to feel that it's you," Sam whispered.

Janet lowered herself onto her lover's lean body. She balanced most of her weight on her arms but made sure to press one of her thighs between Sam's legs and against her centre.

"Please, Janet, take me, I need to feel you inside of me. Take me, I'm yours."

"Mine, all mine." Janet repeated over and over when she first kissed Sam's forehead, her eyes, her mouth. Her tongue had only to touch Sam's lips for them to open and let her in. Sometimes their kisses were fights for dominance, this time Sam was almost shy in finding the invading tongue. They kissed until they had to come up for air and when Sam found Janet's eyes she saw the always cherished golden speckles in the brown orbs which heralded her beloved's arousal.

Sam's heart began to beat faster and Janet's thigh pressed harder against her throbbing clit. She knew she was wet and she knew she needed more. Her hands left their mattress of pillows and cushions and found Janet's hips, pulling her closer. She let them run over Janet's back and pressed down, but Janet resisted.

"Please, love, I need more. I need all of you."

Janet complied and for long moments just lay still. "Put your hands on my ass and don't move them. Spread your legs for me."

Their eyes were locked with each other when suddenly Sam no longer felt Janet's smooth thigh pressed against her but Janet's own centre, the dark brown curls with which she loved to play. She felt Janet's wetness.

"Do you know how much you turn me on, Sammy, with your beautiful blue eyes turning dark with need? It makes me want to tease you 'til you beg for mercy."

The expression in Janet's eyes told Sam that her own had widened in alarm. She enjoyed being teased by her beloved. It was a game they sometimes even played on the base and on those days she couldn't wait to get home and get her woman to herself. This day, however, she was too far gone. She was ready to beg now, and Janet knew it.

She put a finger on Sam's lips and began to rock first her hips and then her whole body forwards and back. The movement let her hard nipples slide along the soft underside of Sam's breasts while Sam's nipples rubbed against her upper chest. Janet put some of her weight on her left arm to free the other. Her right hand caressed Sam's face and neck with deliberately light touches that contrasted to her weight still resting on Sam's body.

Janet knew that Sam was close and the abandon she saw in the by now very dark blue eyes let her own light up in response.

"You're so beautiful, my love, my life," Sam whispered. "Please let me make us come."

"Do it, love."

Sam's eyes never left Janet's when she closed her hands more firmly around Janet's buttocks and began to guide the smaller woman's movements.

"Yes, that's my girl." She heard Janet say, "Go on; show me what you want. Show me how much you enjoy yourself."

Sam's hands guided Janet's hips. They pressed her down. Their clits touched. Janet ducked her head down and found Sam's slightly opened mouth. Their hearts were beating a mile a minute. Their tongues played and breathing became more difficult with every heartbeat until they were forced to break the kiss.

Their clits touched again and this time it was enough to bring them both to a forceful orgasm, but despite its vehemence they were very quiet. The sound of the brightly burning logs in the fireplace easily drowned out their moans.

Sam held Janet in place on top of her until their breathing had returned to a more normal rhythm. She then pushed herself in a sitting position and pulled Janet with her until they were facing the fireplace and Janet was securely cradled in her arms.

"Thank you, my love, you always know what I need. I love you. I'm sorry that I was such a grouch earlier."

"I love you too, my beautiful grouch, and as long as you let me love you, we'll always be okay."

And suddenly the scenery changed.

Janet was still in her arms but they no longer were in front of Jack's fireplace snuggled in a multitude of blankets and cushions but on the hard ground in the middle of a battlefield with the SG troops in full retreat.

"Please don't leave me, Jan, I need you. Cassie needs you."

There was no blood, staff wounds cauterized immediately but it had been a clear shot from less than twenty feet away, a fatal shot. Sam could see the pain in Janet's eyes.

She moved her lips and Sam had to bend down to hear her, "Love you, Sammy. Take care of Cassie."

"Noooo!" Sam cried.

And just like every time she had this kind of dream Sam woke up covered in sweat, her heart beating in her throat. The difference was that this time she had had an audience. The room suddenly was flooded with light and Olivia was standing in the door with a .22 pointed in the room. Sam's hand automatically reached for her own weapon but became aware of where she was just in time.

"Are you alright, Sam?" She asked.

"Sorry, Olivia, just a bad dream. I'm sorry I woke you."

"You didn't, Sam. I couldn't sleep. Do you want to talk about it?" Olivia asked.

"Not really. I'm sorry, I'm such a nuisance. You need your sleep," Sam said.

Olivia put the small gun on the couch table and sat down next to Sam on the couch, close enough to offer comfort but not close enough to touch, "I rarely get more than three or four hours of sleep. I'm not a stranger to nightmares, Sam. I was told it helped to talk."

"But you never tried it yourself, right?" Sam asked. "I doubt that telling you will change anything, but I somehow have the feeling that I owe it to you. In principle it's always the same dream. It starts with Janet and me making love and ends with her dying in my arms."

Sam spoke with the same matter-of-fact voice she also had used to talk about the serial rapist-murderer who probably held her daughter captive. However, that was not what really hit Olivia. She had pegged it as a coping mechanism the first time she had heard this particular inflection in Sam's voice. What hit her was the similarity to her own dreams.

"Most nights I dream about Alex and me making love and then suddenly she is lying on the wet pavement after being gunned down by a hit-man. I feel her blood seeping through my fingers and see the light going out in her eyes. The dreams started the night the doctor at the hospital told us that she had died on the table, but they didn't stop when I saw her a few days later very much alive. I knew she was alive and safe in witness protection but it didn't change anything, the dream still repeats itself," Olivia said softly.

"What do you usually do when your night gets cut short by one of those dreams?" Sam asked.

"I clean my apartment, go to the gym or go for a run."

"Well, the apartment looks clean to me, at least as clean as it can be with a houseguest. It's a bit late for the gym and early for a run."

"I usually use the gym at the precinct. It's open twenty-four hours a day. The problem is that my colleagues would know, so, I don't use it very often. However, in New York it's never too late or too early for a run. You up for one?" Olivia asked.

"Best offer I had in some time."

Ten minutes later they were ready to go. Olivia set the pace and led them first to a small park close to her apartment which they rounded two times to complete their warm-up. Sam enjoyed the plethora of lights they were jogging past and soon pushed Olivia to go faster, and by the time they reached Central Park they were running full out and enjoying themselves. The sun was just coming up when they finished their first round of the reservoir and they slowed down to buy a coffee and enjoy the sun rise. They took a cab back to Olivia's apartment where they showered and changed.

-x-x-x-

Sam and Olivia arrived at the one-six at half past seven. There was no sign of Munch, Fin or Elliot but Captain Cragen was already in his office. He was on the telephone but he waved them to come in and sit down.

"Alright, John, I want you and Fin to go home and catch a few winks of sleep. You've been on this all night. Be back by this afternoon. If something comes up earlier we'll call you."

"So, I guess they didn't find anything, Cap?"

"Not as of yet, Olivia. Last night they checked the case files and notes of every detective at organized crime and gang activities they could get their hands on, without luck. All they got is a list of bars and other joints. A few guys from the gang unit volunteered to check it out with them this evening."

"Count us in, Captain. That way we'll have two more teams," Olivia said.

"Leaving you out never even crossed my mind, Olivia," Cragen answered.

Olivia sensed how Sam's body language changed from relaxed but attentive to tense and nervous, "What is it, Sam? Do you have a better idea?"

"No, I'm thinking about the next step, Olivia. Provided we find the group who attacked Cassie and her friends, what would be your SOP?"

"To take them in for questioning and confront them with the testimony Cassie's friends gave. We then would have to get one of them here for a line-up," Olivia answered. "Our other option would be to put a tail on them and wait until we catch them for something else."

Olivia fell silent for a moment. "You're right, Sam, both options are liable to take too much time. You want to bait them, right? Confront those homophobic pricks with the one thing to which they'll probably react violently; a couple of dykes on a bike. It's a good idea. What do you think, Captain?"

"Colonel Carter, is this really what you wanted to propose?" Cragen asked.

"Yes Sir. As soon as the man with the tattoo and his gang are located, Olivia and I can go in. Best case scenario, they accept us and we get them to talk, worst case scenario, they attack us, we get them for assault and probably sexual harassment and have a bargaining ship concerning Cassie. I know it's not exactly by the book, Captain Cragen, and I can understand if you don't want the SVU or one of its officers involved, Sir."

"Call me, Don, Colonel, and like it or not but we are involved and since you now are a temporary agent of the NYPD I can't let you go off on your own. I know you didn't take an oath but the piece of paper you carry with you, gives you the same rights as a regular detective, and that means that I hold you to the same obligations."

"I understand, Sir, Don. Please call me Sam. I accept your experience in the matter. I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds," Sam said, a bit surprised at herself that she accepted the older man's authority this easily.

"Sam it is, and I didn't dismiss the idea, I just said that I will not let you go alone and I was about to say that it might need a bit more thought. For instance, what makes you think that these homophobes would rather talk to two apparently lesbian women than to, say, a man and his girl?"

"It was the first option I considered, Captain," Sam said, "and there is a chance that with a more traditional couple they would become comfortable enough to confide in them but it would take time. I count on baser human instincts, the need to brag and the desire to dominate."

"Alright, Sam, Olivia, you have a go, but I want you to speak to the guys from the gang unit when they come over later this afternoon to help you prepare. If you don't get anything substantial this night we will take them in for questioning. You will be in contact with Elliot and the guys the whole time, and Olivia, that's not negotiable."

"Yes Captain," Olivia and Sam answered simultaneously.

"Alright, get out of my office. This will be a long night, so take the day off and relax, or if you have energy to spend SWAT One is at the gym, they already asked for you. Sam, could you excuse us for a moment?" Cragen asked, Sam nodded and left the office. "How are you, Olivia?"

"I'm fine, Don."

"Olivia, this is me you're talking to," he insisted. "I saw Alex' signature on the permission slip faxed over from the DA's office."

"Seeing Alex again hurt, more than I would have thought possible, but talking to her, even about a case, was the best time I have had in years. It turned out that the message I got about her needing space didn't come from Alex. Sam found surveillance software on her cell phone and computer. She has a trace going to find out where it comes from."

"Is Alex in any kind of danger, Liv?" Don asked.

"She found listening devices in her apartment and spent the night at her mother's in the Hamptons. The better part of the programs were to keep her from contacting any of us. However, at the moment, I don't think that she is in acute danger."

"Let me know if you need any help, Liv. Alex is still one of our own."

"Thank you, Don."

"No need, Olivia, and now go and kick some SWAT butt. Sam looks as if she could need some relief of tension as well."

Olivia grinned, "The guys won't know what hit them. Sam and I went running this morning. We covered the distance from my apartment to the reservoir in Central Park and she was barely winded."

"If I have the time I'll come by to enjoy the show," Cragen said with a smile.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	6. Chapter 6: Baiting the Line

CH 06: Baiting The Line

Olivia talked to Sam and minutes later they were on their way down to the gym where SWAT One had its regular training session. They changed and entered the room. The six men stopped their training and greeted Olivia boisterously.

"So, Benson, I see you brought reinforcements this time. You finally accept that we're too much for you?"

"Dream on, Parker. Let me introduce, Colonel Sam Carter, US Air Force, Sam, these sorry excuses for stand-up comedians are the members of NYPD's SWAT team number one. You up for a bit of sparring?"

"I don't know, Olivia. I don't want to hurt any of them. They look a bit soft around the edges," Sam said with nonchalance.

"Care to put your money where your mouth is, blondie," one of the men said. He was at least half a head taller than Sam and his shoulders were again half as wide as hers.

She fluently sidestepped his first three attacks. He was visibly trying to overpower her, and when he lunged for her midsection Sam decided that it was time to demonstrate the old adage: the bigger they are the harder they fall. She jumped over his bent body, ducked down, grabbed his ankles and pulled his feet out from under him. He landed face first on the mat.

He got back to his feet and grinned. "Much faster than Benson," he said. "So, are you really Air Force?"

"Went to the Academy when I turned eighteen. It's been a wild journey so far. So, care for another round?" Sam asked.

"Why don't we make it more interesting," Parker said, "a free for all and the last one standing wins."

"In other words, two against six, right? The usual rules?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, getting knocked down means you're out and no kicks to the groin," Parker answered.

"What do you think, Sam?"

"Sounds good enough. So, do we want to have fun or do we have to be efficient?" Sam asked.

"Fun, definitively fun. Don't forget this is training for them. They're not supposed to get hurt," Olivia answered with a smile.

She was looking forward to see Sam in action again. The short glimpses she had had of her fighting style the night before had made her curious. Sam for her part was ready to release some of her fear and tension onto the unsuspecting men. The self-discipline and supreme body control one needed to be good at unarmed combat had always fascinated her. Under Teal'c's and Bra'tac's tutelage she had learned to see it as an art form, but only when Teyla had started to teach her the use of her fighting batons had Sam started to also see it as fun.

"Oh, stop the bragging, Benson, we don't have all day, and there's no guarantee that for once you will not be the one on the receiving end," Parker said.

When Elliot and Don Cragen came in Sam and Olivia were back to back in the middle of the room and the six SWAT team members were in a circle around them, cautiously testing the women's defenses. Elliot gasped. Olivia usually only sparred one on one with the guys, once he had seen her take on two of them and she had pulled a muscle in her back that forced her on desk duty for a couple of days, but what he saw now looked suicidal in his eyes. His protective instincts propelled him to either stop it or join the fray to help his partner.

Cragen held him back, "No, Elliot. We can stop them later. They both need to let off some steam."

"What happened, Captain? You said there were no new developments," Elliot asked.

"Alex Cabot signed the permission Colo… Sam needed," Don answered.

"Ouch!" Elliot commented when the first of the men went down after a hard stab to the solar plexus. "I really wish she could forget the damn Ice Princess. It was hard enough while she was still in witness protection. I bet Liv didn't get a wink of sleep last night. She should never have come back."

"It's not as easy or straight forward as that, Elliot. Olivia will tell you later."

Cragen turned his attention back to the sparring match. The women had given up their purely defensive stances and now openly attacked. Two more men had been taken out but despite the agreed-upon rules they didn't stay down.

They returned to the fight, their pride now pricked at being bested by two women. They tried to rush Olivia from two sides but the women proved to be too good a team and they suddenly were faced with both women. Sam and Olivia took their feet out from under them and their right fists, aimed at Olivia's chest instead hit the other's chin.

The women then rolled out of the way as if they were one. They nodded at each other and the remaining three men soon found themselves on the defensive, back to back, fending off the two women.

"Wow! I knew Liv was good but this… They're attuned to each other, as if they had spent years training and fighting together," Elliot said. "If I didn't know that they only met each other yesterday… It's spooky."

"They make a good team, but I think it's time to stop this. We might need the SWAT boys soon."

Sam's bag began to beep. Elliot told her and she nodded. "Sorry guys. It has been fun but we have to cut this short."

Twenty seconds later the three men were lying on the mat and Sam jogged towards the bench where she had put her bag. The beeping came from her laptop.

"It's the trace, Olivia," she said loud enough to be heard.

Sam opened the machine and a map of the world appeared on the screen. Red and blue dots appeared and disappeared again. The red dots were accompanied by two lines of numbers, the blue dots had one line of numbers and letters. Olivia had crouched next to her while Elliot and Don were looking over her shoulders. One after the other the SWAT team came over to see what was going on.

"Sam?" Olivia asked.

"Sorry Olivia. At the moment the computer is following the data package downloaded from Alex' computer. It's send practically all around the globe, look, the red lights stand for server stations on Earth, the blue lights stand for satellites. Now, I finally understand why they didn't download the data every time she connected to the internet. It would have been much easier to program. Such an elaborate system sooner or later would attract attention if it were to stay in place the whole time. I'm sure they even change the set-up every time. If one thinks about it, it's overkill for something this simple. It's something I'd expect for money laundering or terrorists." Sam fell silent and they all stared on the screen.

"Holly Hannah! That's definitively overkill," Sam said when suddenly two signals began to appear at the same time. She began to type and the second signal disappeared again. A few minutes later a green dot blinked on the screen. Sam opened another window and checked the GPS coordinates she had gotten from the first line of numbers.

"Figures, it's a dorm at New York University." She said.

"A terrorist hiding at the University?" A SWAT member asked.

"No, I rather think it's a college kid with too much time on his hands. We'll find out as soon as I check the IP address." Sam entered a few more commands. "A paranoid college kid with too much time. He put an encryption program on the IP address." She returned to typing. "It doesn't follow the usual routines, it's homemade. One of my programs will break it down without him being the wiser but it might take a while.

"So, guys, are you up for round two?" Sam asked the SWAT team.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Getting our asses handed to us once a day is more than enough, but we're ready to learn, Colonel."

"Call me Sam, the colonel is on vacation. Care to join us, Elliot?"

"No, I'll pass. I'm married with four kids, that's enough to assuage my masochistic tendencies. Besides, watching is much more fun." He and Cragen stayed long enough to find out that Sam was also a good teacher.

-x-x-x-

An hour later Olivia entered the squad room with Sam's bag and laptop.

"Hey, how did it go?" Elliot expectantly looked up from his paperwork. "Is Sam still in the showers?"

"No, I put some boxing gloves on her and left her with the sandbag. She said she needed to vent," Olivia answered.

"Is she alright?" Elliot asked.

"As good as she can be under the circumstances," Olivia answered.

"I couldn't be as calm as she is if it was one of my daughters," Elliot said softly.

"Sam is not calm, El. She is controlled. Her self-control and ability to compartmentalize are amazing, and I really hope that I will never see it break down."

"So, tell me about Alex, Liv?"

Olivia filled him in on what she had learned from Alex the day before, about the surveillance equipment in her computer and the listening devices in her apartment.

"How do you feel about it, Liv?"

"Hopeful, confused. I don't really know. At the moment I try not to think further than helping her and finding out whose been stalking her."

"You know that you can count on me, right, Liv?"

"Yes, I know." Sam's computer beeped. "I'll go and get her."

Olivia quickly disappeared. Elliot followed her with his eyes. He recognized her hasty retreat for what it was. She didn't want to get into an argument about Alex. He had never really warmed up to Alex, and after her return it got worse. He had seen the pain in Olivia's eyes when she had received the damned voicemail, and he had started to really resent the former ADA. What Olivia had told him changed things. In his book, however, that didn't excuse that she never had passed by the precinct or tried to meet Olivia at her apartment. It didn't excuse the pain his partner had gone through, not only the last few months but all the time since Alex had disappeared into witness protection.

-x-x-x-

When Olivia and Sam returned fifteen minutes later, Sam checked her laptop and identified Alex' hacker as a certain Tom Knaur, a grad student and teaching assistant at the department of Computer Science at the NYU. Judging from his photo in the file he was your average geek.

"Why would such a child stalk Alex?" Elliot asked.

"Figuratively speaking I think he's just the muscle. Let me check his finances," Sam answered. Within seconds the IRS logo appeared on the screen.

"Wow! How did you do that? It usually takes us at least two days to get any information out of them," Elliot said.

"Well, Detective, perhaps it's better if you look somewhere else. What I do is not exactly legal, Elliot. This laptop contains programs able to circumvent practically every password or encryption code. It won't stand up in court but I doubt that Alex would want it made official, at least not at the moment. Nothing with IRS. Now for the bank accounts." Sam fell silent and typed. "Here it is. First National. When did Alex return, Olivia?"

"Five months, six days ago."

"November, the 4th?"

"November, the 2nd, actually. Why?"

"Knaur made a deposit of 5,000 Dollars in cash on November, the 4th, and another 20,000 a month later. He wired them to a retirement home in New Jersey the day after." Sam followed the money trail. "It covers the basic expenses of a Mary-Lou Smith." Sam once again started to type. "She was his foster mother for more than thirteen years."

"So, how do we find out where the money came from?" Olivia asked. "Usually we'd bring the evidence to our ADA and with luck we'd get a search warrant for his room. Do you have an idea to do it faster?"

"Tom Knaur has no criminal record," Elliot said who had checked the name in their system. "So, do we presume that he just jumped at the opportunity to make some easy money?"

"It's the most obvious explanation," Sam answered. "I just had a look at his academic records, glowing reports from all of his profs, works on his doctorate, about fifth generation computers and AIs. Looks like just your average nerd. Disregarding procedure I would say we'd go and talk with him, scare him into telling us everything he knows."

"How?" Olivia asked. "He's probably smart enough to know to lawyer up as soon as he sees our badges."

"He might not be afraid of the police, but there's one institution all hackers are afraid of, the CCRT, the cyber crime response team of the Department of Defense. The unit is comprised of experts coming from all branches of our armed forces, Air Force among them."

"Sam, posing as someone you are not is a court marshal offence. It could ruin your career," Elliot warned.

"It's been more than three years since I worried about my career, and since then they promoted me from major to a full bird. But don't worry, I'll only make him believe that I work for the CCRT," Sam said with a feral smile. "Olivia, why don't you take my phone and tell Alex what we found out?"

Olivia took the Blackberry and leaned against the joined desks of Munch and Fin to make her call.

Sam waited until Olivia had started to speak and then said, "Elliot, I'll need something else to wear to pull this off, a business suit, cut to hide my weapons. Do you know where I could get something like this?"

"We have quite the wardrobe selection for short time undercover jobs," Elliot answered. "However, I'm not sure if we'll find something suitable there. As a rule we don't need women's business suits."

"I see. Then you'll just have to point me towards an upper scale department store and I'll try my luck there. I had hoped not having to use my credit card as it probably will throw up a red flag somewhere, but it can't be helped."

"What can't be helped?" Olivia asked when she rejoined them.

"Sam using her credit card to buy a suit to impress hacker-boy."

"A suit?"

"Yes, if we want to scare him into telling us the truth I'll have to look the part. There are two kinds of CCRT agents, your typical geek and then the ones who look more like your average corporate shark. And he won't be intimidated by someone who looks just like him. So, do you know where I could get something like this?"

"You want the suit jacket to hide your weapon and then show it off to intimidate our guy, right?"

"Something like that, yes. So, do you know of a place?"

"Yes and no, Sam. I usually buy my stuff off the rack and have it then tailored but that would take too long. So, I'm at a loss, but I know someone who probably knows."

Olivia grabbed the Blackberry she had put on the desk, and dialed Alex' number. Two minutes later she penned down an address and a name. Another ten minutes later they had checked out an unmarked car and were on their way to Fifth Avenue.

-x-x-x-

In comparison to the other high-rise shops they had passed on their way the one in front of which Elliot stopped the car looked conspicuously modest. Elliot had planned on waiting in the car but when a valet offered to park the vehicle in a private spot around the corner he decided to park it himself and join them later. They drove off and the door opened seemingly of its own accord from the inside. Sam looked around and rectified her first judgment from modest to expensive understatement.

They were greeted by an older woman with short cut silver hair wearing a perfectly tailored dress suit, "Colonel Carter, Detective Benson, my name is Hannah Meyer. Miss Cabot has already informed me of your needs. If you would please follow me?"

Sam only nodded and Olivia said, "My partner, Detective Elliot Stabler will join us in a few minutes."

"My assistant will make sure that he's comfortable while he waits. Would you prefer a skirt or pants, Colonel Carter?"

"Pants, Miss Meyer, they are more suited to my needs."

Together they stepped through another door and a flurry of activity broke loose around Sam, and making the pants fit was the easiest part. An hour later they re-emerged from the so-called changing room. Elliot rose from the comfortable couch where he had been flipping through a magazine and stood slack-jawed as soon as Sam came into view.

"Wow, Sam! I doubt the agents of this CC-whatever usually look this classy. Damn, you clean up nice."

"Thanks, Elliot," Sam answered with a slight blush.

She pulled her wallet out of a pocket and handed her credit card to the older woman.

"It's already been taken care of, Colonel Carter. Miss Cabot instructed us to put it on her account, and I would never even think of going against her wishes," Hannah Meyer said.

"I understand, Miss Meyer. I'll take this up with Miss Cabot myself." Sam put her credit card back and pulled a few bills out of her wallet, "Please give this to your people as a sign of my appreciation for a job well done."

"We are all well-paid, Colonel. This is not necessary."

"In my world, Miss Meyer, a little bit of extra-cash has never done any harm. Please, indulge me," Sam said.

"As you wish, Colonel Carter. If you ever need anything else, please don't hesitate to call. We'll be there for you 24/7."

"Thank you, Miss Meyer."

On the way back to their car Elliot seemed to have recovered from his surprise, "Good luck with getting Cabot to accept your money, Sam. Next to my partner here, she's the most stubborn woman I ever met."

"Stubbornness has nothing against determination, Elliot," Sam said with an enigmatic smile. "And now, let's go and scare a grad student."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	7. Chapter 7: Preparations

**CH07: Preparations**

Tom Knaur was in his room at the dorm. Loud music came from behind the door and Sam didn't bother with knocking. It wasn't locked and she pushed the door open with enough force to let it bang against the wall.

The only occupant of the room was sitting at a desk topped by two old computer monitors. He had dirty blond hair that needed a cut and wore clothes two numbers too big for him. He stared at one of the screens and had yet to react to their entrance. Elliot cut off the music by pulling the plug to the player. Tom Knaur turned around and practically flew out of his chair at the sight of the three strangers in the middle of his room.

"Tom Knaur?" Sam asked in a deep chilly voice.

He automatically nodded but at the same time tried to regain control of the situation, "Who the hell are you people? You have no right to barge in here without permission."

Sam smiled, a predatory and cold smile that would have made Ba'al proud.

"Listen folks, I ain't done nothing wrong. I have rights."

"That's exactly why we're here, young man. You did something very wrong and you got caught. As for our right to be here, yes, we do. 9/11 was good for something."

Sam took a step closer and opened her jacket to allow him a glimpse of her weapon. His eyes widened and his earlier attempts at self-assuredness were gone for the moment, "You are with cyber crimes, the Pentagon."

"Colonel Carter, US Air Force. These are Detectives Stabler and Benson from the New York Police Department. As I said, Tom, I can call you Tom, right? You got caught, Tom. We have a complete record of this morning's activities. Two of the satellites you mis-used to bounce the data package around were military. Do you know what that means, Tom?" Sam asked rhetorically.

"That's impossible. I double-checked every single one of them. I made sure to only use privately owned satellites, Lady. I'm good at what I'm doing."

Sam took another step closer and was now clearly in his personal space. With the height advantage the two-and-a-half inch heels gave her she towered over the skinny young man.

"That's Colonel for you. And it seems that you're not as good as you think you are. At the moment you still have a choice, either you give us your full cooperation, including the identity of the man who paid you or my colleagues will arrest you for cyber piracy, conspiracy and possibly treason, depending on what we find if we take your computer unit apart byte by byte."

"Treason, are you nuts? All I did was download some data from some chick's laptop. There's no way I'll go to jail for that. And I never even tried to breach any satellites. I only used them as relais stations," Tom said in a mixture of fear and indignation.

"That sounded like a confession to me." Elliot said.

"I didn't confess to nothing," Tom protested.

"Oh, please, at least get your grammar right. You're really starting to test my patience, Tom. I'll say it again, so that even you can understand it. We can prove that you illegally downloaded data and that to transfer the data you used two military satellites. That alone would be enough for the Department of Defense and local law enforcement to bust your ass." Sam's voice changed from impatient to a matter-of-fact tone, "You see, Tom, I'm talking about a high-security prison, twenty-three hours a day alone in a cell with absolutely nothing to do and no one to talk to, no visitors, no newspapers, no books, no privacy, no computers. I have seen hardened criminals break after only a few weeks."

Suddenly the fight left him and he slumped back on his chair, "I'm so screwed. I should never have agreed to do it."

"Yes, Tom, you're screwed, at least you would be under normal circumstances. As it is you have two things speaking for you. You see," Olivia said in her most sincere voice, "Colonel Carter had a close look at your files and except for this stupid stalking business you always operated on this side of legality. That's why the powers that be might overlook your misuse of the satellites, provided you do something for us."

"The other reason we are still here, talking civilly and have not dragged you down to the Pentagon where an interrogations' specialist would put you through the ringer, the other reason we are still here, is the identity of the person you stalked. Do you even have any idea whose privacy you invaded?" Sam asked, her voice now mild and encouraging.

Olivia took over. "The 'chick' you stalked not only is an Assistant District Attorney of the State of New York with sensitive data about on-going trials on her computer, she also is a member of one of the most rich and most influential families of the New York area and beyond. For the moment she does not want this to go public but she already gave us the green light should there be no other way."

"Tell us about your client and you'll get out of this with a slap on the wrist, Tom."

Relief flooded his face. "I can do better than that. One of my professors introduced him to me but there was something in his eyes I didn't like. Last week he said that he might have more to do for me soon and I started to check him out. I did it from an internet café and put it on a memory stick." Tom pulled the small device out of the top drawer of his desk. "I can print it out, if you'd like."

"No need to waste paper," Sam said and pulled out her own laptop.

"It's password protected," Tom said. "I can open it up for you, Colonel."

"I guess it's the same idiosyncratic algorhythm you used to protect your IP address, right?" He nodded.

Less than a minute later about a dozen files and two file folders popped up; and twenty minutes later they left Tom's room. Sam was the last one to leave.

"Don't forget, Tom, we'll keep an eye on your activities. Don't disappoint me."

"No, Colonel Carter. I'll stay on the straight and narrow," he said.

"Good, oh and this little problem you have with the autonomous responses of your AI. Try to combine the base pairs with a theta algorhythm." Sam closed the door before he had a chance to reply anything.

On the way back to the sedan Olivia called Alex and told her what they had found out.

"Sam said she will do some more research as soon as we're back at the precinct but she found no evidence of manipulation in the data Tom Knaur gave us."

"I have to see it with my own eyes, Liv. I'll be at the one-six in about two and a half hours," Alex said, and her tone of voice told Olivia that she would not be dissuaded.

"Drive carefully, Alex. See you soon."

-x-x-x-

To say that Alex was simply angry when she read document after document would have been an understatement of galactic proportions. She was livid, seething. The information Tom Knaur had dug up alone would have been damning enough, but the things Sam had found were much more than just that. If Robert thought that he could get away with that he was badly mistaken. She would grill him in court and have him rot in jail. Alex' face was pale but her eyes were blazing fire.

"I want… Oh, damn!" Alex burst out, jumped from her seat at Olivia's desk and ran out of the squad room.

Munch and Fin barely avoided getting hit by the door when she breezed past them. It took the two men a moment to recognize her but then they stared at her wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Follow her, Olivia. Convince Alex that it's not her fault. She did nothing wrong," Sam said.

Olivia left at a run before the two men even had a chance to turn back around. When they finally did and saw Sam in her stylish suit their mouths opened even wider.

Elliot smirked and asked, "Did you just see the ghost of Christmas past or is there any other reason for your pitiable imitation of a koi out of its pond?"

"Cabot in jeans!" Fin said dumbfounded.

Munch pulled his partner from the door and into the squad room, "Wow! Sam, you clean up nice. I can't wait to see you all dressed up in an evening gown."

A shadow raced over Sam's face but aside from Elliot no one saw it, and he only did because his partner sometimes had the same reaction, usually when a case or some remark hit too close to home. So, he decided to redirect their attention.

"Get over yourself, you two, and let me give you the low-down on what happened while you were snoozing."

Elliot explained all about Alex' stalker, the listening devices in her apartment, and the geek who had bugged her laptop and cell phone. Sam turned her attention back to the computer.

-x-x-x-

Olivia had reached Alex and pulled her into the crib. This time of the day it was usually empty and today proved to be no exception. Before the blonde had a chance to protest, Olivia closed her arms around her former lover and held her tight.

"Everything will be alright, Alex. Now that you know, he no longer has any power over you. One way or the other he will be out of your life and you can start to be the real Alex Cabot again. You know, when the gossip about Robert and Jim Steele reached us John was convinced that you were some government planted pod person and not our beloved Ice Princess and Devil of the one-six."

Alex reacted with a short and humorless laugh, definitively not the reaction for which Olivia had hoped.

"And the sad thing is that I'm not sure if I'd disagree with him on that one, Liv. Since my return I learned the hard way that life has gone on in New York and that it's impossible to turn back time."

Olivia pulled Alex to one of the cots without letting go and settled Alex more comfortably in her arms, all the while making sure to hold eye contact.

"In witness protection I spent so much time daydreaming about my return to the one-six, about walking into the squad room as if I owned it and asking, 'What have we got?' and plunging right back into the thick of things. But when I really returned someone else had taken my place and from all accounts she did a rather good job. Suddenly I had a new apartment just two blocks from my old one and yet as different as night and day. I had a new job, and one that put me three steps closer to where I always thought I wanted to be, the New York County DA and then move on. I might even have learned to live with the fact that my fairy tale didn't come true…" Alex fell silent.

"And then you thought that we, your old friends, no longer wanted to have anything to do with you. I'm so sorry, Alex. I should have walked to your office and demand that you tell me in person."

Alex put her index finger on Olivia's lips, "No, Liv, don't do this to yourself. I could have stopped by the one-six. I could have come to your apartment, but my fears were stronger."

"That's in the past, Alex. We lost a few months but I'm not letting you go again without a fight," Olivia said and put a gentle kiss on Alex' lips.

"Witness protection changed me, Liv. I'm no longer the woman you knew."

"Time changes all of us, Alex. It just means that we have to get to know each other again. For all you know I could have joined a cult while you were gone. There's only one thing I know for sure, Alexandra Cabot, and that is that I love you and I always will. After you told me about this 'good man' who held you at night during your first return I tried to get you out of my head and my heart but it didn't work. You always will be my heart," Olivia said and Alex started to cry.

Olivia held her and hoped that no one would get it in their heads to enter the crib just now. No one should see Alex this vulnerable. She stroked Alex' back and arm, whispered encouragements and endearments. When Alex' tears had finally started to dry she sought Olivia's eyes.

"I'm not worthy of your love, Olivia. I'm responsible for the death of a woman. Her name was Debra Cole. She killed herself just because I was too damned selfish to find another way to win my case."

"Tell me about it, Lexi," Olivia said.

"Don't call me Lexi. I don't deserve the endearment."

"Tell me, Alexandra, and let me be the judge of what you deserve or not, please, love."

And so Alex told her about the insurance fraud case and corrupt doctors destroying the life of hundreds of innocent people. She told her about the rapist who would have been a dead ringer for Rikers but had detailed information on her case, and how she had forced her ADA into cutting him a deal and how his victim Debra Cole had thrown herself in front of a subway train. And how it had all been her fault and that it never would have happened with her still at the SVU.

Olivia tried to tell her that then she would have been at the receiving end of a bureau chief's order to cut a deal but Alex didn't take the bait, at least not all the way. "Probably, but together we would have found a way to do right by the victim and it would not have been me who sacrificed a victim just to make it easier on myself. I would not have needed this chiropractor's testimony to win the case.

"Never did a victory taste this sour, and when Robert came to take me out to celebrate I threw up, literally. This night I took a look at myself and I didn't like what I saw but I also didn't know what to do about it. And it took me another two weeks to at least be honest with myself…" Alex once again fell silent.

Olivia pushed her head up and kissed her on the lips. It started as a chaste kiss but when Olivia opened her lips in invitation Alex' tongue found its way in and it became passionate.

"I'm glad you gave his ring back before I walked back into your life," Olivia said.

"Me too," Alex answered and let her head rest on Olivia's shoulder.

Alex relished the feeling, so familiar and yet different. Olivia still smelled like she had in the past and they still fit together like they always had, not a perfect match by common standards but perfect for them. What was different was the way her head felt against Olivia's chest; it felt harder and more padded at the same time. Her hand found Olivia's side and then wandered to her stomach where even in Olivia's mostly relaxed position she found hard muscles which with a man undoubtedly would have translated into a well defined six-pack.

Alex wanted to ask her if she had started to work out more but swallowed her words. It would have crossed a boundary and now was not the time to indulge in purely carnal curiosity as much as she would have liked that.

Olivia saved her from the dilemma, "So, Councilor, what will we do now?"

Alex looked up and found the barely repressed desire she felt mirrored in Olivia's eyes. It gave her the strength to return to the squad room and do the right thing. She extricated herself from Olivia's arms and offered her a hand to stand up.

"Now, Detective, now, we'll nail his ass on the cross with the full force of the New York justice system. Let's go, I have a few questions for your friend Sam – besides, no one should look this good in a pant's suit," Alex said, and for the first time since they had met again the day before the familiar confidence and fire was back in her eyes.

-x-x-x-

When they returned to the squad room, the attention of everyone in the room was focused on George Huang, their resident profiler and psychiatrist who was giving everyone his scope on the serial rapist-murderer they were after. All in all he agreed with Melinda's conclusions and Sam's theories.

"This man is highly organized and yet he has changed his timeline but not his modus operandi. The last victim was found too soon but her injuries follow the same pattern as with his earlier victims. His rhythm was disturbed and Cassandra Fraiser was probably the reason. There's no hard proof but I think that the men who attacked Cassandra and her friends supply our perp with new victims. So, finding these men is our best chance to get to him. Olivia, Colonel Carter, before we start this, please take a few minutes to talk with me. I can give you some pointers on how to get them to talk. Questions anyone?"

There were no questions, instead the captain turned around and pulled Alex in his arms, "It's good to see you, Alex. Are you finally back?"

"You already have an ADA, Don, but yes, I'm back, at least I hope so. So, what's with this plan?"

Before Cragen had a chance to answer Munch took his place in her arms, "You're a sight for sore eyes, Councilor."

"I heard I was the object of one of your conspiracy theories, John," Alex said with a teasing smile.

"For once, I'm glad I was wrong, Alex."

"Move your skinny ass out of my way, Munch. It's my turn," Fin growled from behind.

John let go and pushed Alex in the arms of the other detective, "Elliot told us about your… about him. If you need anything let me know, let us know. You're still one of us."

"Thank you, Fin."

"Alright people, enough with the love fest. We have work to do. Our contacts from the gang unit will be here soon. In the meantime, Alex, do you have any ideas what to do about Robert White? Do you want to make it public?" Cragen asked.

"I have lots of ideas, most of them illegal, but yes, I want to make this official. I want to see his ass in Rikers."

"That's the Alex Cabot we all know and love," Fin said, "but from what Stabler said none of the information we have would hold up in court."

"We should start with sending a CSU team to Alex' apartment," Olivia said. "The way this whole thing is set up tells me that Mister White is too arrogant for his own good. Tom said that he gave White detailed instructions on how and where to plant the listening devices. I'm pretty sure that he did it himself, and that means that we'll probably find his fingerprints."

"And with the fingerprints," Sam continued, "we'll have enough for a search warrant for his offices and his apartment. The prints should also be reason enough to issue a restraining order, Alex. But even if against all odds he didn't leave any prints, his illegal financial transactions alone are enough get a warrant and even to build a solid case."

"What are you talking about, Sam? We have to stay on this side of the law," Alex asked.

"The first thing I learned when I started to lead my own team and the one thing I always try to keep in mind while writing my reports is that for the brass the facts are less important than the way you present them." Sam answered.

"And I thought you were a scientist, Sam," Munch quipped in.

"Oh, I am, John, but I'm not your run of the mill scientist. I'm an astrophysicist. We know that the closer you get to define one thing the less you can say about the position or speed of another," Sam said with a smile.

"The Heisenberg uncertainty principle?"

"Yes, John, and the most fascinating thing about it is that it even works outside of the realm of quantum physics and astronomy. In other words, if we shower people with facts and without a doubt we have enough of that, no one is liable to ask which fact came first."

Olivia grinned. "So, let's say that since Robert White was or is your financial manager and the base of trust was destroyed after you returned his ring, Alex, right? So, it would be only logical if you had someone take a closer look at your assets. And it also would be a perfectly legal way to find out what has happened to your money. Also, the Cabot name should be good enough to get a board member or manager to freeze these assets for the moment."

"And that once again gives us legal grounds for a search warrant," Sam added.

"His company didn't only work for the Cabots. What about the others?" Alex asked. "Peger, Ruslin and Durst are the most prestigious firm in New York."

"Your family money and estates are managed by Malcolm Durst jr. White is only a junior partner. Your trust fund, Alex, was the biggest pot to which he had access, but he also took from other accounts, in a range between ten to thirty thousand dollar," Sam answered. "Not enough to hurt them financially but still enough to be noticed in the long run."

"As my husband he probably would have maintained control of my money with a chance to get access to all of the Cabot accounts and also one day work for a few others of the old families. But why did he need the money? The Whites are almost as well off as the Cabots."

Sam refocused them on their main topic, "Alex, it might be a good idea for you to make a few phone calls, a friendly warning for your peers."

"Let him feel a bit of pressure, if possible from the men who pay his salary," Olivia added.

"Won't he go into hiding?" Elliot asked.

"I doubt it. He's much too arrogant for that," Alex said with conviction.

-x-x-x-

Soon after Sam and Olivia sat down to organize the data while Alex called a judge.

"Judge Harriman, please," she said.

"This is Alex Cabot in the DA's office."

"Uncle Bill… Good… Look I need a little favor… I gave Robert his ring back."

"Yes, I finally came to my senses… Oh yes, Mother was ecstatic; she even opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate."

"Listen, there's more to the whole thing…"

-x-x-x-

Meanwhile George Huang and Melinda Warner leaned against one of the desks.

"They are amazing," George said. "If I didn't know better I wouldn't believe that it was only yesterday that they met for the first time."

"Alex and Olivia have known each other for years, George," Melinda answered in an effort to circumvent his real point.

"You know I'm talking about Olivia and Colonel Carter. It's almost as if they're able to read each other's thoughts. I never saw Olivia opening up to someone this fast, and somehow I get the feeling that it's the same for her new friend."

"Are you worried, George?" Melinda asked.

"Intrigued, Melinda, professionally and personally. It's like a study in contradictions. She seems to be relaxed and totally focused on solving Alex' problem. She's even able to engage in banter with John, and considering the fact that someone she claims to love like a daughter is in mortal danger, that alone should worry me. But then I look into her eyes and I see so much pain, bone deep, and the next moment it's gone and her face is an unreadable mask. I'd really like to get to know her."

"If that's really what you want, George, then you'll have to leave the psychiatrist and the profiler at home. You're right, Sam is a very private person, and she knows how to protect her privacy. That was true more than fifteen years ago, and I imagine that she only has gotten better at it over the years. Sam is capable of extreme focus, concentrating on one thing allows her to put everything else aside. She can loose herself in one thing, an experiment, some other work to be done or even a game, and it can be hard to get her to relax, but there's no one else you'd want at your side in a crisis."

"So, Alex' stalker problem is the best thing that could have happened to the colonel because it gives her something else to focus on," George said. "That only makes her more fascinating."

Suddenly the object of their conversation was standing right in front of them, "So, Doctor Huang, are you done analyzing me?"

"I haven't even started, but something tells me that I could try and would only end with what you want me to see," George said with a smile that was meant to be innocent.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Doctor," Sam grinned but didn't refute his words. "One day I might give you a professional shot at me. Olivia said that you're different than other shrinks and can be trusted. She trusts you, so, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt but now is not the time."

"I understand, Colonel," George answered and really meant it.

"Sam, please. The colonel is on vacation. So, you said earlier that you have a few pointers for us?"

"Yes, I think I do. I studied the testimonies of Cassandra's friends. Their descriptions are very detailed, probably due to the fact that they had the whole night and during the flight to think about it," George began to explain.

"They all are med-students, Doctor, attention to detail is what they learn from day one." Sam said defensively.

"Please, call me George. And I didn't say that to doubt the veracity of their words but to explain on what I base my recommendations."

"I understand. Please, accept my apology, George."

"No apology necessary, Sam."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	8. Chapter 8: Waiting

**CH 08: Waiting**

Olivia and Alex joined them. "Ah, Olivia, just in time for the important things. I already told Sam that I had a look at the testimonies of Cassandra's friends, and I think that you should focus your attention on their leader. He was the only one who spoke and he was the one who ordered the attack on the girls, obviously without taking part in it at first. At this point it's only speculation but I'm sure that that man, their leader knows our perp and also knows where to find him. I'm sorry, Sam, but I think he brought Cassandra to him to punish her for opposing his authority. In a twisted way it probably cemented the power he has over the other members of his group, and he will show off this power, especially in the way he treats the women of his entourage. It's very likely that he mistreats or humiliates them in public while being extremely protective and possessive of them."

"There's one thing that doesn't fit," Sam said. "A macho control freak like the one you described would never let anyone else have the satisfaction of making Cassandra pay for her perceived sins. He would do it himself and he would enjoy doing it. Especially since it has the added bonus to re-establish his authority in front of his cronies."

Her voice was carefully neutral, almost without inflection – the tone of voice Olivia had learned to recognize as Sam's way to deal with overwhelming emotions.

"You have a point, and he probably did. I'm sure he either…" George fell silent. "Sorry, I shouldn't speculate about things like this in front of family."

"I'm a soldier, George, and I'm not blind to human nature. I know it's probable that he beat and raped Cassie," Sam answered without even the slightest change in her voice.

"Again this is nothing but speculation, a gut instinct if you will. The rapist-murderer we search follows a ritual, bringing him a new victim a week early and getting him to keep her is exactly what the gang leader needed to re-establish his authority he felt had been threatened," George explained.

"So, how do we get him to talk?" Olivia asked.

"He insulted Cassie and her friends as dykes. In my eyes, that means that he feels threatened by strong, independent women. Provoke him."

"So, we're playing the big bad butch and her submissive bitch, right?" Olivia asked.

"This would allow us a two-pronged attack. If George is right, and I think he is, he should react to a dyke who, let's say has a firm handle on her woman. The fact alone that I'm a woman is a threat to his imagined male superiority and if he sees that my girl is better trained and more loving despite being treated harshly; that should be enough to provoke him and with a bit of luck he'll tell me about his latest exploits to prove his masculinity. In the meantime Olivia can work on his woman, bond with her, one woman to the other," Sam finished Olivia's thoughts.

"If he really is a dominant, a real dominant, it can work. There's only one problem with this plan, Sam. Olivia can play the damsel-in-distress if she has to, she can play the vamp, but, no offence to your acting abilities, Olivia, but I remember the last time you and Elliot went undercover in the BDSM scene," George said.

"You and me, too, Doc. We went to this club to keep our eye on people we suspected of running a ring of child molesters. I was supposed to act as El's sub or slave," Olivia explained. "I blew our cover because my eyes gave me away, and the case was only saved because someone came forward at the last minute. So, we'll have to think of something else. Sorry."

"It still can work," Sam insisted. "We'll just have to switch roles. You'll go as the Dominant and I'll be your slave. My eyes won't give me away."

"You also don't strike me as the submissive type, Sam," Melinda said.

"And you know more about bikes than I could ever learn. You're the better choice," Olivia said.

"No, it could even work better. At least if Sam is capable of submitting to you, Olivia, while she acts superior and disdainful to everyone else. That should make him swallow the bait all the faster," George said.

"Some sort of reverse psychology. Yes, I think I can easily do that."

Elliot had come over a moment after Alex and Olivia, "This whole plan gets more wacky by the minute. We know nothing about these guys, all we have is what-ifs. Let me serve you with a few. What if they refuse outright to talk to you? What if this gang leader decides to assert his superiority by having both of you beaten to a pulp?"

"Stop worrying, El. We'll be in radio contact with all of you the whole time, and you will be there to bail us out if push comes to shove. We'll arrest them, have one of Cassie's friends fly in for a line-up, and do it the old fashioned way," Olivia said.

"Alright, but I still don't like it. There are too many things we don't know yet; too many things that can go wrong. And, Liv, please don't tell me otherwise. No famous last words, okay?"

Olivia nodded. To diffuse the tension coming from Elliot, Sam asked Alex, "How are things going, Alex?"

"Judge Harriman kicked the machine in motion, so to speak. A team of auditors from the white collar division are on their way to Peger, Ruslin and Durst. When Oliver Peger jr. heard about the suspicions against Robert he personally invited them. The firm has too much to lose not to cooperate fully.

"Casey Novak is on her way to my apartment where the crime scene guys should already be working. She has a search warrant for Robert's penthouse and the house of his parents on Long Island."

"But that's way outside of our jurisdiction," Elliot said.

Alex grinned, the small sexy grin she always had when she had an ace up her sleeve, "As luck has it, Detective, Judge Harriman happens to play golf with the chief of East Hampton Town PD, so, jurisdiction won't be a concern."

"Yeah, the old Cabot magic is back," Fin said with a wide grin of his own.

"Now, all I have left to do is pack a bag, check into the Plaza and wait until everyone else does their jobs. I hate waiting," Alex said.

"Good news, people," Captain Cragen joined them, "Novak just called. The fingerprints on the listening devices match Robert White and according to the CSU he can't have touched any of them accidentally. They also found a camera behind a mirror in the bedroom. They activated it and traced the signal to an apartment three stories below yours. According to the doorman it's been rented to a Silva Masada."

"Robert! Damn bastard!" Alex burst out. When she saw the questioning look in the other's eyes she explained, "Robert's hobby is Roman military history. He has lots of memorabilia, short swords, armor, spears and quite a few scaled models of famous Roman battles. One of them shows the siege of Masada in Israel under the command of a General Silva. He spent two very long evenings telling me all about it, about the ramp they had built by slaves, about the siege engines destroying the wall, and how the rebels cheated Silva out of his well deserved triumph by killing themselves rather than being taken prisoners and sold as slaves."

"I call Novak. With the video signal leading there and the name we have probable cause to have a look at this apartment right now," Cragen said.

"No, everything has to be as much above board as possible. Have her call Judge Harriman. He'll send a clerk or a uniform with another search warrant," Alex said.

"Earlier, when you called the judge," George said when the captain returned to his office to make the call, "I heard you call him 'Uncle'; won't that open the door for the defense?"

"Judge Harriman is not really my uncle. He was the best friend of my father and I clerked for him when I was still in law school. As long as we find what we need there should not be a problem," Alex answered. "No, the problem will be to find a judge whose finances are not taken care of by Peger, Ruslin and Durst."

"Will they try to protect Robert to avoid the publicity?" Munch asked.

"No, I don't think so. As I already said, Peger, Ruslin and Durst have too much to lose. With economy as it is, their reputation and their history of solid investment and reliability is their biggest asset. Robert's family being part of the same social circles won't save him…."

-x-x-x-

Before Alex had a chance to say more three men entered the squad room. They looked like someone one wouldn't want to meet alone in a dark alley at night. The detectives of the gang unit had no problem to imagine Olivia on a bike, but when they saw the tall blonde in the impeccable business suit, they were quick to offer alternatives, except for a late arrival.

The man had entered about a minute after the others and Sam had felt his eyes on her from the moment he had stepped through the open doors. One of the other three, a Detective Tazzino, even went as far as trying to intimidate her with his bulk. He stepped right in her personal space but before he had the chance to touch her or to say something he suddenly found himself face first on the floor, one arm and hand painfully overextended. He tried to free himself.

"Stop moving or you'll end up hurting yourself," Sam said calmly. She let go of his arm and stepped back. "And just for the record; I don't like bullies, Detective."

The late arrival laughed and helped his colleague up, "Well, Devil, it looks like you have to rethink your dating technique again. Didn't your mother tell you that you should never judge a book by its cover?"

"You know that I'm a slow learner, Boss," Tazzino said and turned to Sam. "I apologize for my inappropriate behavior, Ma'am. I'm Detective Mario Tazzino, Devil to my friends and people who can take me down without even the slightest warning."

"Sam Carter, nice to meet you. Tazzino? So, I guess devil refers to the Tasmanian Devil. Is it because of your short fuse or your fast reflexes?"

"A little bit of both. Let me introduce our boss, Lieutenant Fritz Durer."

They quickly split the men of the SVU among them and took off to canvass the relevant biker bars; after they had raided the squad's undercover wardrobe to make sure that the SVU detectives would not stick out like a sore thumb. To everyone's surprise even Munch looked pretty convincing at the end.

Sam and Olivia also chose an outfit each but decided to change later. When the men were gone Alex also wanted to leave.

"Olivia, why don't you go with Alex? Make sure that she arrives safely at the hotel, grab a bite to eat, relax a bit," Sam said.

Olivia's brown eyes shone in gratitude, but she shock her head in the negative, "I'm a big girl, Olivia. I can stay on my own for a couple of hours."

"Sam won't be alone," Melinda said. "We'll have an early dinner together and I'll keep her from fretting by getting her to tell me all about herself and bore her to death with tales about my precious off-spring."

It took a few more prompts to get Olivia to follow her heart's desire.

"So, Sam, what do you fancy? Chinese, Italian, Egyptian? They're all in walking distance," Melinda asked.

"Olivia and I had Chinese yesterday. Egyptian sounds good. I haven't had that since before my new posting. My friend Daniel was born in Egypt and he's a very good cook. So, lead the way, Doc," Sam answered.

And as if summoned by the mention of his name, Sam's Blackberry rang.

"Hi Daniel, what's up?"

"Marge called, Cassie's friend. She is sure that there was another person in the back of the alley with the bikes. She swears that it was a woman and that she seemed to be afraid. Alison and Cory didn't see her but I thought that you'd still need to know."

"Thanks, Daniel, and thank her from me. The information might help us. We have teams out searching the local bars," Sam then filled him in on the rest of the plan.

"Be careful, Sam. I'm not sure how much of your plasma Carolyn still has on hold. You can't afford being injured," Daniel said.

"I'll be alright, Danny. I have New York's finest guarding my six."

"You can't blame me to wish that we were with you too, but Teal'c has his hands full with the Jaffa council. Jack is still in Washington trying to figure out what's going on, and Landry has cooked up an excuse to send me to the IOC to snoop around."

"I miss you guys too, Daniel, but don't worry. I'll be fine. Take care of yourself. Compared to the political cess-pit of the IOC the streets of New York are the Garden of Eden itself. Is there anything else I should know?" Sam asked.

"No, Sam, not at the moment, but try to keep a low profile, just in case."

"I'll do my best. Bye Daniel. Oh, wait, yesterday when we had dinner someone called me 'lan se yan jing bing'. What does it mean?"

"Can you say it again?" Sam did. "I'm not one hundred percent sure but I understand it as 'sad blue eyes', Sam."

"Thank you, Danny, and keep yourself out of trouble with the IOC. Bye."

Melinda and Sam left the precinct and walked down the street to the restaurant, "I overheard your conversation, Sam. Is there any problem with your blood?"

Sam studied the face of her re-found friend intently and decided to tell the truth. "You remember Cassie's blood anomalies, Mel? I have almost the same, except that I have more of the metal in my blood. Basically it means that I can only receive transfusions from my own blood."

"Is there someone to call if it would be necessary?" Melinda asked.

"Daniel can set you up. He's the number one on my speed dial. If you can't reach him, call this number," Sam jotted a number down. "This will get you trough directly to the CMO of my former base in Colorado; her name is Carolyn Lam. I trust her."

"Thanks, Sam. I hope it won't be necessary." Melinda said. "Tell me about this Daniel. He has a nice voice."

"Doctor Daniel Jackson. We've known each other for eleven years. He's an archaeologist by trade and has a real talent for languages. I think he's up to twenty-eight or twenty-nine by now. He works as a civilian advisor and has been part of my team since then. He's closer to me than my own brother, much closer. Cassie calls him uncle."

Melinda sensed that the last sentence had slipped against Sam's will. She squeezed her shoulder but didn't ask any further questions. They entered the restaurant and ordered.

Talking with Melinda was surprisingly easy because she seemed to know exactly when to take something at face value and redirected her questions whenever they stirred too close to classified information. This way more than two hours had passed without any of them noticing.

-x-x-x-

Olivia and Alex had reached the blond councilor's penthouse apartment. Apart from the fingerprinting powder liberally spread all over the big living room, it looked like right out of an add in one of those stylish-living magazines, but it looked nothing like her old apartment. There was nothing of Alex in this room, nothing at all.

Olivia had sensed the growing tension in Alex' body since they had stepped into the elevator. Relying on her admittedly three years old knowledge of Alex' body language she had decided to let the proud woman be for the moment. She had to wait until Alex would open up to her on her own.

"Take a seat, Olivia, I'll be back in a few minutes," Alex said.

Instead Olivia dimmed the light and stood in front of the panorama window looking out on Central Park. The view reminded her a lot of the one from Alex' former apartment, except that it was closer and thus even more peaceful and impressive. Olivia lost herself in the view. Suddenly she felt a slim body pressing itself against her back and Alex' arms closed around her waist.

"That's a great view, Alex; better than the old one."

"It's about the only thing I like about this apartment; and that's probably only because it reminds me of my old one. Do you remember the first time I brought you there, Liv?"

"How could I not?" Olivia answered. Alex' chin was resting on her right shoulder. "You had told me to make myself comfortable and went to the kitchen to get us something to drink. Then you were behind me, just as you are now, and you were holding me, and I asked you why of all the people you could have why you chose me."

"And I told you that I chose you because of who you are, that I chose you because you are beautiful and strong and sure of yourself and sensitive and vulnerable and sexy and everything I ever wanted in my partner. And that's still true." Alex said.

"Why Robert? Do you love him?" Olivia asked.

"No, I never did and also never pretended to. He knew that. From the moment I returned from witness protection he was there. He had this penthouse ready, furnished and paid for, as well as a car, the laptop, the cell phone, everything. He was so damned understanding. I was frustrated and depressed when I thought you all didn't want anything to do with me. He held me after I had received this email telling me that you had found a new love with Casey Novak. I could slap myself for being so damned stupid."

Olivia turned around in Alex' arms and closed her own around the slightly taller woman's torso, "Don't blame yourself, Alex-baby."

"How could I not, Liv? I let him do this. I allowed myself to be isolated from my friends and my family and the person I love. How can it not be my fault?"

Alex' whole body was stiff with tension and Olivia started to draw circles on her back, "It's not your fault, baby. You were vulnerable when you returned from witness protection. You wanted everything to be the same, you wanted to start over, but to you it seemed that we all had gone on with our lives. Robert seemed to be what you needed, reliable, friendly, strong. Don't blame yourself, Alex. He used you, not the other way around."

"How can you be so forgiving, Liv? I hurt you. I put you through hell for three years, six months and twenty-four days."

"And you put yourself through hell for three years, six months and twenty-four days, Alex. And I'm not forgiving, not at all. All I really want is to kick Robert's ass from here to kingdom come for what he did to you. But I also have to blame myself. I should have come over as soon as I got this stupid voice mail."

"But you didn't, and not only because the faked message said that I didn't want you to, but also because I made you believe that there was someone else when I left after the trial," Alex said with sadness in her voice.

"Why did you?" Olivia asked.

"It took almost two years to find the shooter, and Agent Hammond told me in no uncertain terms that the probability for Velez to return to the US was slim, and that even if he did and was arrested that it would take years 'til he was convicted. I thought that when I told you about a man in my life, in my bed that you would go on. I had given up. I wanted you to have a chance at a new life, a new love," Alex said and hid her face against Olivia's chest.

"I doubt that it ever would have worked, Alex. Everyone who knew about us told me to move on. They told me that the chances of you ever returning to us were less than slim but I could not do it. Serena and Abby made it their mission to drag me to gay bars…"

"I don't blame you for seeking comfort with others, Liv. I also tried, after the trial, but it didn't work. None of them were you, Liv," Alex still had not moved her head.

"And none of them were you, Alex," Olivia answered and pushed the taller woman's head up until she was forced to look into her eyes.

The pain in Alex' blue orbs hurt Olivia and she followed her instincts. With her hand on Alex' neck, she pulled her down and kissed her. The fears and doubts were washed away and they made love on the plush carpeted floor, right where they were, in front of the floor to ceiling windows of the living room.

Their bodies found each other again as if it had only been yesterday since they last had felt the other. Familiar signals let each of them respond with a hunger that could have made believe that it had been more than three years, six months and twenty-four days, much more.

Afterwards Alex was cuddled in Olivia's arms, breathing in the scent that was so uniquely her, so intimately familiar. She pressed herself closer against her lover's body that felt even leaner and stronger than it had before though it had not lost any of the womanly curves she had dreamed about every night.

They both were looking out of the panorama window. Night was falling over the park and the city at the other side awakened to new life.

"That's the first time I don't feel sad looking out of this window," Alex said.

"It's a great view, Lexi, what could possibly make you sad about it?"

"Until today every time I stood at that window my eyes were drawn to the other side of the Park and a simple one-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor too far away to be seen and yet the only place where I really wanted to be, but now I can feel you pressed against me. I can feel your skin on my skin; I can smell your shampoo, I can smell you and for the first time since my return this apartment, this city feels like home."

"I love you, Alexandra Caroline Cabot, with all my heart and all my soul. I never want to lose you again. The next time someone wants to put you in the Witness Protection Program I'm coming with you," Olivia said.

"Are you serious?" Alex asked and turned around to look into Olivia's eyes.

"There's not a day gone by when I didn't kick myself that I had not simply jumped into that damn van that evening. Sometimes I even fantasized about us living in a small house somewhere, falling asleep in each other's arms, far from Special Victims and rapists and sleazy lawyers and emergency calls in the middle of the night."

"I love you so much, Olivia Benson, even though you're completely nuts," Alex said with a mixture of deeply felt emotion and light teasing.

"I'm serious, Alex, I can't lose you again. I barely survived the last time," Olivia replied soberly.

"You will not lose me, my Liv, never again, not even if the FBI, the DEA and the State Department would combine their powers to drag me off. I wouldn't let them. Do you know that the first thing I did after I got my identity back was to go to this little jewelry shop and ask for the pair of rings that had always been in their window? I was too late; it had been too much to hope for, anyway. I so wanted to surprise you with them. I'm sorry that I was too chicken shit to even consider having such a sign of commitment then."

Olivia squirmed a bit until she could move both arms, "It was a joint decision at the time, Alex."

She put her hands in her neck and took off a thin silver chain, "A few weeks after they made you disappear I passed by the jewelry shop on my way back from an interview. I stopped in mid-step and thought about all the times we had looked at those rings together, and suddenly I couldn't stand the thought that someone else one day would be wearing them and I went inside and bought them."

Olivia had nestled with the chain and now held two platin bands in her outstretched hand. Miniature Celtic knots were etched all around it and in the middle a blue and a brown stone had been embedded.

Alex' hand trembled when she took one of them. She asked, "Olivia Benson, would you do me the great honor and put this ring on my left ring finger as a sign that my heart will always belong to you?"

Olivia had tears in her eyes when she did just that and then silently handed the second ring to Alex who kissed it and put it on Olivia's left hand.

"I love you, my Liv, my life."

"And I love you, Alexandra Caroline Cabot."

They looked into each other's eyes and kissed, gently, reassuringly.

-x-x-x-

Back in the squad room Melinda insisted on keeping Sam company but the more time passed the more nervous Sam became, "I'm sorry, Mel, but I need to be alone for a while. There's a small room next to the gym. That's where you'll find me."

Sam left before Melinda had a chance to say anything. She looked around the empty office space and decided to join Huang and Cragen in the captain's office.

"Doctor Warner, come in," the older man offered, "I guess it would be a waste of breath to tell you to go home to your family, right?"

"You're right, Don. Just tell yourself that having a medical doctor at hand can never hurt. What's your excuse, George?"

He smiled, "You might call it professional curiosity. You also might call it irrational worries."

Alex and Olivia joined them half an hour later. Olivia leaned against the door frame and Alex stood directly behind her and looked over her shoulder. They seemed to be at peace with each other, and Don had a hard time not to smile at the changes he saw in his detective's eyes.

They did their best to make small-talk but none of them even pretended to be interested in anything but the sound of Cragen's telephone ringing. It finally came after another forty-three minutes. Elliot and Detective Tazzino confirmed the identification.

Olivia went down to the gym to get Sam and change; and Sam would not be Sam if she had not immediately spotted the new ring on Olivia's hand. Olivia willing held out her hand but refused to take it off for even a second.

"No, only Alex has the right to take this ring off, no one else."

"I'm happy for you, Olivia. Happiness looks good on you."

Captain Cragen meanwhile studied the faces of the other people in his office. He sighed and ordered a surveillance van big enough for all of them to find a seat, though he knew that if even the slightest thing went wrong there would be hell to pay.

George Huang could act as an advisor for Sam and Olivia. If push came to shove even Melinda Warner's presence could be justified. Her weapon's qualifications were up-to-date; she trained regularly and having a doctor at the scene could be helpful, even if she only had said that as an excuse to stay. However, there was no justification whatsoever to bring a civilian along, even if the civilian in question was an assistant district attorney and bureau chief.

If he thought that there was even the slightest chance to get Alex to stay behind, he would try to talk her out of it. But when he looked at her set jaw and the deep blue eyes and recognized the same determination he remembered from more than three years ago he knew that it would not work, not tonight, not when they just had found each other again. Did that make him a romantic fool? Probably, but at the moment he didn't really care. For Don it was enough that the light had returned to Olivia's eyes, and to Alex'. He had only seen her once since her return, at a police charity he had found no way not to attend. That evening she had looked like all the other arm ornaments of the influential men milling around. He had almost not recognized her without the familiar fire in her eyes.

Moments after Lieutenant Durer had entered the squad room dressed like a member of the Hell's Angels minus the logo the desk-sergeant let Captain Cragen know that his van was ready and a tech assistant on his way up to put wires on Olivia and Sam.

The two women came in a few minutes later and the young technician whistled through his teeth and stared. Olivia wore skin tight, hip hugging, black leather pants which definitively didn't come from the precinct's undercover wardrobe. The short white top hugged her form and stopped about an inch or two above the belly button. It allowed a generous view of her well-toned midsection. Sam's dark brown leather coat completed the ensemble. It wasn't a perfect fit around the shoulders and a bit too long but in Alex' eyes she still looked incredibly sexy and strong and ready to take on the world.

Sam also was wearing leather pants, the ones from the day before, tucked into leather boots with two and a half inch heels that made her taller than almost everyone else in the room except for Lieutenant Durer. Instead of a shirt or top she was wearing a leather vest consisting of an intricate network of leather bands about an inch and a half broad. It was dyed a deep, dark red. It hugged her torso, and though it didn't really show anything it gave the impression of leaving nothing to the imagination. Her long blond hair was open and fell in waves over her shoulders and down her back. It gave her a wild, yet sophisticated look. Alex noted a discreet layer of make-up, accentuating Sam's eyes. It made them look even bigger and more intense.

"Wow! That's impressive!" Lieutenant Durer said, "However, that's not what you chose to wear earlier."

"No, it isn't, Lieutenant. Your men assured us that with our earlier choices we would blend in perfectly with the usual crowd. However, blending in is not exactly what we want. We don't have the time to establish a real relationship with these people. We have to attract their attention, and looking just a bit different seems like good first step," Olivia explained.

"Even if it means looking like rejects from Mad Max Three," Sam added with a smile.

"Oh no, Sam, if the actors in that movie would have looked like the two of you, it would not have been that boring," Melinda said.

The technician equipped Sam and Olivia with a microphone and earpiece, not an easy job considering their choice of outfits. The others went down to the surveillance van to get a head start but Lieutenant Durer insisted on speaking with them in private.

"Colonel Carter, we have a mutual friend, Nick Farthington. I called him earlier when I recognized Maureen's bike. The bar you're going to, The Wizard's Wheels, belongs to one of Nick's friends. The group we were searching for has never been there before and they are really not the usual clientele but for tonight they will make them believe that the Wheels is right up their alley, so to speak. Captain Cragen filled me in on your plan, the role playing thing and I told Nick. He has a real knack for reading people and he says that it won't work. In his words their leader is a pompous ass, a bully. He says that he wouldn't even understand the dynamics you have in mind. But he seems fascinated with Nick. Nick will be there. He wants you to greet him as an old friend and he will make the introductions and leave the guy to you. Nick also wants you to know that everyone in the bar will have your back; and as we speak the tech guy is connecting the surveillance van to the cameras inside of the Wheels. So, we'll not only have audio but also video proof when you get these guys to implicate themselves," Lieutenant Durer said.

Sam rolled her eyes; Olivia and she were perfectly able to take care of themselves. Sam, however, also knew that men like Nick couldn't help being over-protective, and after years of working with Jack O'Neill she knew that it was not a sign of distrust or of doubt in her, in their abilities; it was just the way they were. Sam guessed Elliot would also have to be counted in this category.

"I understand. So, the rules of the game have changed. Could you call Nick and tell him to greet us as KD and Melissa, Lieutenant?"

"Sure thing, Colonel. I have to check something else first and will join you later at the Wheels." He waved to them and left.

"KD and Melissa? Sam? Could you have been any more obvious?" Olivia asked.

"It was the first thing that came to mind, Olivia, and besides I like their music." Sam said with a sheepish smile.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	9. Chapter 9: The Wizard's Wheels

**CH 09: The Wizard's Wheels**

When Sam and Olivia arrived at their destination they saw the surveillance van unobtrusively parked at a corner but instead of driving up to the bar immediately they first made a pass of the building. Sam scanned the bikes parked in front of it, but there were too many matching the possible models from the alley. When they returned there was a small crowd on the sidewalk, ostensibly looking at one of the bikes and Sam decided to make a big entrance. She guided the heavy Harley on the sidewalk and forced everyone to scatter at her passing.

They stopped right next to the entrance. Olivia climbed down while Sam secured the machine, and as if they had rehearsed it both of their helmets came off at the same time and they shock out their hair with the same side- and backwards movement. Sam slipped out of the protective denim jacket she had put on to ward off the chill of the April night.

Before she had a chance to put it away a man in his early to mid-twenties with dirty blonde hair stepped right in front of her and shouted, "Stupid bitches! Get off this sidewalk. This bar is for pros. Wanna-bes like you belong in this queer dive over at Hudson Street."

Olivia paid him no attention while she put the helmets and Sam's jacket in the saddlebags and secured them with a padlock. Sam studied the man from head to toe and quickly dismissed him as if he were nothing more than a particularly boring exhibit in a small town museum. She shrugged a shoulder and guided Olivia to the entrance of the bar.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw how another man pushed the first roughly forward. He grabbed her arm in an effort to hold her back, and suddenly his arm was in a secure hold on his back and his chest pressed against the gas tank of one of the bikes which suddenly gave way and fell against another bike. Sam didn't care and pressed on.

"Listen to me, little man, no one touches me without my permission and no one tells me what to do," Sam said loud enough to be heard by everyone on the sidewalk.

Sam then pulled him back up, turned both of them around and showed him in the direction of the man who had pushed him forward. She found the man's dark eyes, "Take your boy-toy back. You should never send a kid to do the job of a man."

That did it. He stepped forward, the tattoo on the back of his hand was clearly visible in the light from the big flood lights that illuminated the bikes and the sidewalk. Sam noted with approval how accurate the description Cassie's friends had given had been.

"Tell you what, bitch, you'll be in a world of pain if my Big Lady has so much as a scratch," he growled, and motioned for two of his cronies to righten the bike.

One of them quickly said, "Looks good, Carl. Nothing that can't be polished out. I'll do it tomorrow."

"Don't bother. This bike is not worth the effort. I would be surprised if it even lasted 'til the end of the year," Sam said after a disdainful glance at the bike in question.

"KD, glad you and your lady could make it. I know this bike is not a real classic, KD, but it's nice enough looking."

"And that's all there is to it. The valves are rusty, as are the spark plugs, and I don't want to even take a closer look. It's nothing more than a polished death-trap. Hey, Nick, long time no see," Sam answered and accepted to be pulled in a bear hug.

He also hugged Olivia like an old friend and then took a closer look at the bike in question, "You're right, KD, as always. This bike needs a complete overhaul and not just some polish. It's a pity; properly restored it would be worth some appreciation. So, Carl, my guy, what happened to your real ride?"

"A fender bender. The cradle got seriously dented. We're still waiting for the parts. I know I should not have taken this one out before my guys were finished with it."

Sam snorted, "What a pro who lets others do their work? Nick, care to join my lady and me for a friendly game of pool?"

"Sorry, KD, a bit later perhaps. I got some business to attend to first. I'm sure my new buddy Carl here would love to test his skills against yours," Nick said and gave Carl a friendly shove.

"He's welcome to try," Sam laughed and asked Olivia, "What do you think, Mel?"

"I think that even a boring pool game must be better than standing here and listening to your pissing contest and shop talk."

"Oh, is my baby bored? Let me give you something to think about." Sam pulled Olivia in her arms and kissed her long and hard. "Still bored, Mel?"

Most of the men standing around whistled appreciatively.

"That's disgusting. Let's go inside, so we can kick your ass at the pool table," Carl said in an effort to regain a semblance of control.

Sam nodded and motioned for him to go ahead. As soon as he had made the first steps she added, "Go ahead and set up the table. We'll get something to drink. You guys drink beer, right?"

Before he could protest at her only thinly veiled order Nick pushed him inside and four of his five cronies nodded vigorously. On the way to the bar Sam softly apologized for the kiss.

"It's alright, Sam. I'll survive," Olivia answered with a twinkle in her eyes.

They reached the bar, "The biggest pitcher of beer you have, a coke light, and… Melissa, what do you want?"

"Same as you for starters, baby," Olivia answered.

"You heard the lady. Make it two coke light," Sam said.

While they waited for their order a slim woman in her mid-twenties joined them, "Carl said that I'm to help you carry the drinks."

"Hi," Olivia smiled at her, "I'm Melissa, this is KD. And you are?"

"Sorry, my manners. My name is Gwen. I'm Carl's. Are you hers or do you have a man?" Gwen asked.

"Did Carl put you up to ask this?" Olivia wanted to know.

"Melissa is my lady, Gwen, but she only belongs to herself," Sam said, and to take the sting out of her words she added, "Gwen is short for Gwendolyn, right?"

The young woman nodded.

"It's a beautiful name. It suits you."

Gwen blushed at the simple compliment, "Thank you, KD, but please don't say such things when Carl can hear them. He has a temper."

Sam gently put a hand on her cheek, "Don't worry. I won't let him hurt you."

Their order arrived and Gwen wanted to carry the heavy tray with the beer. Sam stopped her, "No, Gwen, I'll do that. What do you want to drink?"

"Carl will give me a drink of his beer," Gwen answered.

Sam motioned for the barkeep, "A glass of tomato juice, please, plain, no pepper, no Tabasco."

The glass was quickly filled, "Here, Gwen, it might settle your stomach. Now, please, lead the way to the pool table."

They crossed the room and Sam whispered to Olivia, "Keep an eye on her. She's pregnant. And yes, I'm sure, but I doubt that she has told anyone yet."

-x-x-x-

Carl and one of his men were already playing when they arrived, "What did take you so long? You don't mind that we started without you, right?"

"No, why should we? I know that some people need to warm up before the real game can begin," Sam said with a smile that could almost have passed as a smirk.

Carl obviously didn't know how to act on what he perceived as an insult; so, instead he finished the game and gulped down half of his beer in one go. The table was set up again and Olivia selected billiard cues for Sam and herself.

"…interesting. Why don't we cut the crap and you put your money where your mouth is. Just a friendly wager, two hundred bucks a game. Too much for you, blondie?" Olivia heard when she got back from the opposite wall.

"That's KD for you, tattoo-boy. And we're in. Two hundred is a good start. Melissa, would you go first?"

"I thought we'd never get started," Olivia said with a grin. "So, who's gonna be my first victim, guys?"

"Tony," Carl said to the man who had earlier felt Sam's self-protective instincts, "that's your chance to redeem yourself. Show them that this is not a game for little girls."

Though Tony had won the coin toss on who would break, the game was over very quickly, and half an hour later Sam had pocketed six hundred dollar.

Olivia put the cue back and said, "These guys are no fun. I'll go and get myself another drink, baby."

"Alright, Mel, and please, bring a refill for me."

Sam made sure to lose her first game by a narrow margin, and predictably Carl upped the ante. "What do you say to three hundred a game, KD? Besides, what does KD stand for?"

"That's for me to know and for you to eventually find out, Carl," Sam internally flinched at the asinine comment, but Carl seemed to take it as a challenge. "But why only three hundred. Let's say five. It's easier to count."

Carl agreed and sent the last of his men to face Sam. This time Sam arranged for a narrow win, Carl glared at him and the other men. He took a deep breath and shouted, "Get me another beer, slut!"

Gwen hurriedly refilled his glass and handed it over. It seemed to calm him enough to refocus his attention on Sam.

"Alright, seems as if I have to do this myself, as always," Carl said.

Sam botched the break and Carl sank all of his balls except for one and the eight ball. Sam made quick work of her own balls and then it was her turn for the eight ball. In direct line between the cue ball and her target was Carl's last ball. Sam made a show of studying the table from all angles and then tapped the cue ball just enough to bring it close to Carl's ball with barely a tenth of an inch to spare.

Carl tried to put his ball in the side pocket by hitting the white one hard. It seemed to work. His last ball went in but the cue ball had too much momentum and slipped in right after. With the cue ball back on the break point it was easy for Sam to pocket the eight and win the game.

Carl visibly fumed, "I want a rematch, now. No one can be this lucky twice in a row."

"So, want to go back to two hundred a game, buddy?" Sam asked calmly.

"No way, blondie. I'm gonna win all my money back. It's double or nothing."

"Works for me, Carl, but don't whine if you'll end up with empty pockets. Say what, I'll even let you go first."

Olivia returned with a refill of Sam's coke and a bottle of Corona for herself, "Thank you, Melissa."

"You're welcome, baby. So, are you having fun with the boys?"

"Our new friend Carl insists on playing one grand a game. So, it's starting to get interesting, finally. Do you want to take over for me?" Sam asked.

"No, baby, you know how much I love seeing you play," Olivia said.

"You only want to look at my ass, Mel," Sam said with a genuine smile.

"You bet I do," Olivia gave Sam a teasing kiss on the cheek and gently swatted her buttocks. "Now go and give me a show."

Carl pocketed two full balls, but his next shot went awry. He cursed and would have stabbed the butt end of his cue right into Gwen's stomach had Olivia not pulled her aside at the last moment.

"Damn it, take care!" Olivia shouted.

"Stay out of it, bitch. This slut is mine to do with as I please."

Sam quickly dropped the cue ball in the corner pocket, "It's your turn, Carl." Sam nodded to Olivia who led Gwen to the Ladies' room.

Like everything else at the bar it looked worn, almost shabby, but it was clean, "Are you alright, Gwen? You know that he has no right to treat you like that, right?"

"I know his temper sometimes gets the better of him, but he's taking good care of me, and he never hurt me too badly," Gwen said almost inaudibly.

"Will he also take care of your child, Gwen? Will he take his temper out on your child?" Olivia asked.

"No one knows that I'm pregnant, not even Carl," Gwen said defensively.

"KD has a sixth sense for these things, Gwen, and she's never been wrong," Olivia answered with conviction though she had no logical explanation why she had such an unmitigated trust in the blond woman. "You deserve better than him, Gwen."

"He's all I have, and I need to go back now. He doesn't like it when I'm out of his sight for too long."

Gwen left Olivia in the restroom, "Damn it. That could have gone better."

That moment Olivia's ear piece was activated for the first time this evening. It was George Huang, "Don't beat yourself up, Olivia. You're getting through to her. From what she just said and what Elliot told me over the link how these men treat her, you'll have to see her as a victim of long time abuse. She's not used to someone, to anyone standing up for her, but she heard what you said, and she will think about it.

"You better get out there again. Sam always lets him break and then proceeds to clear the table as if it were nothing but a practice run. It's more fun than watching a snooker tournament on the sports channel. Go, he soon will reach the boiling point."

-x-x-x-

Olivia arrived just in time to hear Carl's outburst, "You stupid cunt, you spilled my drink."

She saw how Carl raised his fist, but before she even could shout a warning Sam slid over the short side of the pool table, scattering balls everywhere, landed on her feet and blocked his fist with her open palm inches before it would have hit Gwen's face.

"Mel, Gwen, would you please go and bring me a root beer?" Sam's eyes were full of concern for the young woman but when she turned her attention to the speechless man whose fist she was still holding it turned to an expressionless mask.

"What kind of sick moron are you, Carl? Hitting a defenseless woman?" Sam barked and let go of his fist.

"That's none of your business, you stupid dyke. She's mine to do with as I please. I'm her man and it's my right." In an attempt to intimidate her Carl stepped right into her personal space, but Sam's cold smile made it more than obvious that it had no effect on her.

"A real man does not need to use force with any woman, you misogynistic dick. And if you really want to hit a woman try someone your size or are you too chicken shit to face me?" Sam said with ice in her voice and took full advantage of the almost three inches she had to him in height due to her heels.

"I won't dirty my hands with the likes of you, dyke. You're lucky that we're in public here or I would have my guys teach you a lesson."

"That would be right up your alley, right, Carl? Hitting little girls and hiding behind your men. Why don't you prove your virility at the pool table, big guy?" Sam taunted him and to her surprise he took the bait.

Sam motioned for him to break, but he refused, "Oh no, this time you pave the way for me. My chivalry has its limits."

"Are you sure, Carl?"

"Bet your ass I am."

Sam shrugged her shoulders as if she wanted to say 'You asked for it, buddy', and started to play. A few minutes later Carl slammed his cue against the frame of the pool table and broke it in half.

"Pay up, Carl," Sam said. "A real man pays his debts."

He reluctantly handed her a fist full of bills, "I am a real man, dyke, just ask the last bitch who dared to defy me. I made sure that she never again will raise a hand against a man, any man. She will learn her place before she dies."

Sam had a hard time not to betray her shock at his words. She had no doubt that he was referring to Cassie, and now she had to get him to talk. She decided to provoke him.

"That's a tall claim, Carl, but you know, I think that you're a lot like your bike out there, more talk than deliverance. Why should I believe you?" Sam said and tried to sound as uninterested as possible while raking up the balls for a new game.

At that moment Olivia and Gwen came with Sam's root beer and another pitcher of normal beer for the men. Two of Carl's men used the interruption to get him to focus on his drink. They even tried to get him to relocate to another bar for the rest of the night.

Sam quickly interfered, "Yes, Carl, go to another playground. I knew you didn't have the balls to back up your claim with facts."

"You want facts, you stupid cunt, I'll give you facts," he shouted while he whirled around and shoved Gwen out of the way. He brandished his broken cue in front of Sam's face but didn't touch her, "Go over to North Riverside Drive and you'll find her being taught a lesson she'll never forget, not that she will have a chance to ever use her new found insight."

It took all of Sam's self control not to grab him by the neck and wring it until he spit out the number. North Riverside Drive was damned long. So, in a split second she decided to provoke him some more. It either would make him attack her and give her the satisfaction to strike back or it would make him spill his guts even more.

"So, once again you let someone else do your job? No, I'm not impressed, not at all," Sam said.

His next move surprised her, instead of getting even angrier, he laughed, "You don't know half of it, bull dyke. She regretted her defiance before I brought her to him. I made sure that her pretty face wasn't this pretty any longer and she felt what it feels like to be filled by a real man, the little dyke. Though in retrospect I'm not sure she even was one, a dyke that is. In the end she cried out for her mother and a guy named Sam."

-x-x-x-

Gwen stumbled right into a corner of the pool table. She cried out when the hard edge hit her stomach and landed hard on the floor. Olivia was quickly at her side. She still listened with one ear to the exchange between Sam and Carl but the better part of her attention was on the young woman. She helped her up and sat her down on a nearby chair.

Olivia crouched at her side, "It's alright, Gwen, try to breathe through your nose. Keep it flat, only tiny breaths. Take your time, no deep breaths."

She rubbed Gwen's back while everyone else around the pool table seemed to be oblivious of their existence. "That's better. Now, stand up slowly and stretch. Hold onto my neck. That'll make it easier. We'll get you to a hospital and have you checked out soon. Everything will be alright."

"He won't allow me to keep the baby if he finds out. He thinks children are a burden," Gwen whispered and hung on to Olivia like a lifeline.

"It's not his decision, Gwen, it's yours, yours alone. Your little one will be better off without a father like him," Olivia tried to reassure her.

-x-x-x-

"…she cried out for her mother and a guy named Sam."

Sam lost it. Without warning her right hand closed to a fist and before Carl knew how, she had hit him squarely in the face. Blood was running from his nose and her knuckles were slightly bleeding where they had impacted with his front teeth. He landed on the floor and Sam pulled him up again before he even really knew what had happened.

She slammed him against the pool table. Suddenly the other half of his cue stick was in her hand and she pressed it against his throat. Her eyes had turned to a blue as dark as to appear black. She heard frantic shouting coming from her earpiece but she didn't care. All she saw and heard was this man who had hurt her little girl and she would make damn sure that it would not happen again.

"Help me, you morons", he croaked before speaking became impossible.

Sam felt herself be pulled backwards, away from the man she wanted to kill. It were Elliot and Devil who the whole time had had a ringside seat and now had jumped in. Her eyes were like a black diamond and there was no sign that she had recognized them.

Suddenly Carl's men seemed to wake up and stormed towards her. Elliot and Devil pushed her back to protect her and shouted, "Police, freeze!", but it already was too late. Three of Carl's cronies had reached them and they had to defend themselves. The other two were helping Carl to get up from his prone position on the pool table. Sam stepped around Elliot and Devil and put the first one out with a right hook to his chin. She sent the second flying with an elegant roundhouse kick.

And then she once again was face to face with her target. The blood from his broken nose and busted lip had soaked into his shirt. Sam smiled, his eyes widened and he stepped back in fear. He stumbled over the first man she had knocked out and landed on his backside on the floor. He began to crawl backwards when she started to stalk him like a jungle cat would its prey and finally he ended up with his back against the rack with the cue sticks.

Sam towered over him and her instincts screamed at her to get it over with, but from seemingly out of nowhere someone was standing right in front of her and blocked her access to her prey. She wanted to push the obstacle away, but two hands grabbed her shoulders and almost despite herself she turned her gaze to two deep brown orbs. They were very different from the brown eyes she longed to see but still familiar enough to stop her.

Slowly the insistent words the person spoke reached her ears, "Don't, Sam. He's not worth it. We got him. You're better than this, Samantha. Come back. Cassie needs you. We have to find her, your daughter needs you, Sam."

Sam blinked a couple of times, "Olivia?"

"Yes, Sam, it's me. We got him, we got them all. The captain already called for a transport to bring them to the precinct. Do you want to read him his rights?"

Sam shook her head, "I'll wait outside. Some fresh air will help me to calm down."

Sam left it to the SVU detectives and their colleagues from gang crimes to cuff and mirandize their suspects. She leaned against the wall, oblivious to the chill of the night. Her eyes were closed and she was a picture of outward calm. But behind her closed lids Carl's words repeated itself,

"…I made sure that her pretty face wasn't this pretty any longer and she felt what it feels like to be filled by a real man, the little dyke. Though in retrospect I'm not sure she even was one, a dyke that is. In the end she cried out for her mother and a guy named Sam."

She felt the tears ready to spill but she unconsciously knew that she had to hold on to her soldier persona for a bit longer. Cassie was still in the hands of this madman, and they still didn't know where on Riverside Drive he held her daughter. Sam tried to regain control of her emotions by taking deep measured breaths and slowly the world all around her drifted back into focus. She heard the cars passing by, the sounds of sirens in the distance and she felt at least two pairs of eyes observing her.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	10. Chapter 10: North Riverside Drive

**Ch 10: North Riverside Drive**

Sam reluctantly opened her eyes and saw Nick standing at the entrance to the bar, Gwen at his side. She took another deep breath and walked over, her official persona now firmly back in place.

"Nick, please tell your friend that I apologize for the commotion. If there were any damages, please have him send me the bill. I will take care of it."

"Martin is glad that he could help, after all we only provided the setting, you and Olivia did all the work, Sam. I'll tell him about your offer, but I already know his answer. He will refuse; he had far too much fun observing the two of you in action. Is there anything else we can do for you?" Nick asked.

"At the moment I don't think so. We still have to find out where exactly Cassie is held. So, someone will have to question Carl and his goons and the rest probably will canvass North Riverside Drive and search for unusual activity," Sam answered.

"I can help you with that," Gwen spoke up. "Carl never took anyone with him when he delivered the girls. Here in New York he left us at the entrance to an area with abandoned warehouses. I think they once belonged to a cruise line."

Sam gestured for Olivia to come over. Gwen gave a detailed description of the block where Carl had told them to wait for his return, "Is it true what Melis…the detective said, that the young woman … that she is your daughter?"

"Yes, she's my adopted daughter. And I'd be grateful for anything you could tell us to help us get her back," Sam answered.

"I'm sorry that I was not strong enough to go to the police earlier. If I had I could have ended this a long time ago. I'm sorry. I'll tell you everything I know about Carl and the others and what we did," Gwen said.

"What made you change your mind?" Olivia asked. "Earlier you said that he was all you have and that he was taking good care of you."

"No one ever stood up for me before, especially not a complete stranger, and what you said, Detective, about him caring for my baby. It made me understand that I can no longer hide; even though you only wanted to get me on your side."

"If you tell us everything you know I'm sure we'll find a way to get you out of this mostly unharmed. You know that I have no choice but to arrest you too, Gwen, right?" Olivia said. "But before my colleagues bring you to the precinct they'll stop at the next hospital to make sure that the baby is alright. Just to make sure."

"You really care? This was not just for show? Trying to get me on your side?" Gwen asked with wide disbelieving eyes.

"I won't lie to you, Gwen, our first priority has always been to find out what has happened to my daughter, no matter how, but no one deserves to be treated like a doormat, and regardless of what you did or didn't do in the past, the baby growing inside of you is innocent, and innocence has to be protected," Sam said softly and turned her attention back to Nick. "Nick, there is something you could do for me. Could you keep an eye on Gwen? Make sure that she is not pushed around or bullied?"

"Of course, Sam. I'll stay with her and protect her," he answered.

"That's good," Captain Cragen said from the side. "Then the two of you can ride back with us in the surveillance van. The transport will take another fifteen to twenty minutes to arrive. Elliot, Detective Tazzino and his colleagues will take care of that. Munch, Fin and Doctor Warner will join you in the search. I have already alerted our SWAT boys. They should be ready to go when we're back at the precinct. I'll also make sure that we'll have a bus standing by."

"So, we have a go?" Olivia asked unnecessarily.

"Yes, you do, but I want you both to wear these," At his sign the technician driving the van handed the two women a kevlar vest each.

Sam quickly pulled it over her head and closed the Velcro straps. She bounced a few times on the balls of her feet to settle the necessary but cumbersome garment and then took her sidearm from Olivia who had carried it the whole time together with her own at the small of her back under the leather coat.

"Do you have another one?" Alex unexpectedly asked and gestured towards the vest while Olivia was still busy closing the straps on her own. "I'll come with you. I'll ride with Munch and Fin."

"No way!"

"Just forget it, Alex."

"It's too dangerous."

The protests came from all sides at once, but before Alex at a chance to explain herself Olivia pulled her aside.

"Please, don't make me stay behind, Liv," Alex pleaded.

"I love you, Lexi, please don't ask me to come with us. I already lost you twice, I just found you again. Please, I would be too worried about your safety to do my job. Don't do this to us."

"You're not fighting fair, Olivia Benson."

"I'll fight with everything I have to keep you out of harm's way, Lexi. Please, go with Dad and make sure that these bastards don't get off on a technicality," Olivia said.

"Don't you trust Casey Novak to do this?" Alex asked. Despite what they had shared earlier this day she still was not really sure about the relationship of her re-found lover and her successor as the ADA to the one-six.

"I trust Casey, Alex, she's good at what she does, but four eyes see more than two, and as long as you are at the precinct no one will be able to get to you. I can't lose you again, please."

"Alright, Liv, you win, but please, be careful. If you get killed out there I will follow you and haunt you in the afterlife."

There was an almost imperceptible tremor in Alex' voice and Olivia acted on instinct and kissed her right there on the street. The kiss was short and soft and reassuring.

"I'll come back to you, I promise." She took Alex' left hand, guided it to her lips and kissed the ring. "This means forever, Lexi. I won't let anything get between us."

"I love you, Olivia Benson."

-x-x-x-

George Huang didn't even turn his head from the screen when Captain Cragen and Councilor Cabot entered the surveillance van with Nick and Gwen in tow. His eyes were glued to the small view screen where he replayed the last couple of minutes of the video feed from inside the bar. He froze the image at the point where Sam had been about to choke Carl and her dark, almost black eyes were clearly visible despite the poor quality of the images.

"Colonel Carter is an extremely dangerous woman," George said almost to himself.

"Of course she is, that's why she is still alive and has a chest full of decorations to prove it," Nick said.

"She lost control in there," George insisted without turning his eyes away.

"Yes, she did. I don't blame her under the circumstances, but it took no more than a friendly touch and a few words to bring her back." Nick said and added, "I have seen soldiers never breaking out of this haze and others who had nothing left of themselves when they finally did. Sam Carter is an extremely strong woman."

"So, you've known Sam for long?" Alex asked. Talking wouldn't keep her from worrying but she also was genuinely curious about this woman who seemed to have developed such a strange chemistry with Olivia in such a short time, especially since she didn't feel the jealousy she had half expected, not even when the two of them had been flirting in the bar, not even during the kiss.

"Met her yesterday morning for the first time, Miss Cabot," At her questioningly raised eyebrow Nick added, "Even us bikers read the newspapers. Colonel Carter's former commanding officer is one of my oldest friends. He explained the situation and asked me to help her out as best as I can. I trust his judgment and he worked with her daily for eight years.

"He said, and I quote 'Carter's IQ is so high that she easily counts as one of our country's National treasures, but she's more than just smart. She's fiercely loyal, dedicated, brave, extremely protective of those she cares for, the best shot I ever worked with', and to put this into perspective, at one time Jack was commanding a sniper unit. He also said that she's proficient in more than one hand-to-hand-combat technique and the best man on the job when it comes to protecting your six. I thought that he exaggerated but from what I've seen earlier I now know that he didn't."

"And yet she lost it," George insisted.

Captain Cragen had just instructed the van's driver to first stop at Mercy's hospital before returning to the precinct when he heard Nick say, "You must be the shrink Fritz told me about."

"Doctor George Huang, nice to meet you. Who is Fritz?"

"Major Nick Farthington, retired, likewise. Lieutenant Fritz Durer of the gang unit. Can you show me the fight again?"

They all flocked around the view screen while the van made its way through the still thick night traffic. This time George only stopped the recording when Sam left to go outside.

"Please rerun the part when Devil and your detective pulled her off this slime ball."

Nick's eyes widened, "Wow, I was wrong. Sam didn't lose it. If she had Devil and the other man would have found themselves knocked out on the floor. If she had really lost it, she would have seen anyone touching her as a threat and not have differentiated between attackers. She wouldn't have killed Carl, just as she could have killed her other opponents with a single move but didn't. Though in her eyes she probably did lose control for a moment."

"Don't you give her a bit too much credit, comparing her to the proverbial white raven?" George asked.

Nick laughed, but it was the humorless laugh of someone who knows exactly what he's talking about, "There's no such thing as a white raven, just as there is no experienced combat soldier without a few dark spots on his or her soul. Sam Carter belongs to the few people who know the risks, that's why she left to calm down. If you're worried about your friends, there's no need. She will do everything in her power to keep them safe and sound."

"Even if she loses it again?" George asked.

"Especially if she should really lose it, which I doubt. It only would make her more protective."

-x-x-x-

The spot on North Riverside Drive Gwen had described to them before heading out with the surveillance van had been easy to find. Sam and Olivia decided to leave the Harley and proceed dockside on foot while Munch, Fin, and Melinda would patrol the street itself and look out for signs of activity, light, opened doors, the sound of machinery. Sam pulled the scanner out of her ever present bag and once again adjusted the settings. She told Olivia that it now would search for any sign of human life inside a perimeter of one hundred yards.

The first four warehouses were really abandoned. The scanner indicated four life signs at the side entrance of the fifth but they turned out to be two couples in the middle of a romp, and from the looks of it at least two of the participants were professionals. Six, seven and eight didn't even rate a blip on the scanner's screen, but nine showed two life signs on the first floor of a distinct building. In contrast to the other buildings they had passed it was entirely made of solid bricks and even in its slightly dilapidated state hinted at a glorious past.

Olivia called Munch and the others in the car and they all decided to take a closer look. The back entrance was barricaded by old barrels, broken furniture and other debris, the side entrance blocked from the outside by solid wooden beams. Since the door opened to the inside Fin tried it anyway and it moved for about two inches until it was blocked by some obstacle. At first sight the front door seemed also to be blocked from the outside.

At closer inspection it turned out that the pieces of wooden stillage that looked like an obstacle course were rather easy to navigate. The door itself was locked but quickly succumbed to Sam's lock picking skills. Olivia, Fin, Munch and Sam went inside and Melinda stayed reluctantly outside and gave Captain Cragen a preliminary report. She also told him that the others had temporarily deactivated their comm. links to assure a stealthy approach.

In turn he brought her up to date. The ER at Mercy's Hospital had been extremely busy for a Tuesday night and seeing all the visibly injured or ill people in the waiting room Gwen had insisted that she felt fine now and that they could immediately go to the precinct. Apparently Nick had friends everywhere in New York and one of the doctors came down and checked the young woman out, right in the surveillance van. She said that everything looked fine but that she wanted to see Gwen in her practice as soon as possible for a full physical and complete blood works. Nick had been quick to agree that he would bring her as soon as possible.

They all were on their way back to the one-six now. Cragen also wanted to send the squad team and the bus he had on stand-by over immediately, but Melinda told him that the others first wanted to make sure that they really had the right building before calling reinforcement. The captain still insisted, but promised that they would be discreet and not announce their arrival from four blocks away.

Meanwhile Sam and the detectives had checked the ground floor of the building, though Sam had wanted to head upstairs immediately. The others, however, had recommended caution. There were two large storage rooms and two offices but aside from a remarkable absence of dirt and debris there was no indication that the rooms had been used recently.

Munch stayed downstairs in one of the storage areas, hidden behind a column in view of the freight elevator. The others took the stairs, silently thankful for the fact that the stairs were made of stone and not of probably creaking wood. Halfways up, at the first turn, Sam once again changed the settings of her scanner. The combination of letters and numbers on the small view screen made no sense to Olivia who was looking at it from the side, and Fin who glanced over Sam's shoulder also could not make any sense of it.

Sam activated her microphone and told Melinda to call for back-up. Before Fin had a chance to ask if she really was sure and if it would not be better to wait until they had a visual confirmation, a muffled cry of pain came from above. Olivia acted on instinct and stormed upstairs.

Sam was hard on her heels. The soldier and tactician in her cried out at her recklessness; she knew it simply couldn't be that easy. The woman and mother in her, however, didn't care. She had recognized her daughter's voice and everything else instantly faded into the background.

Fortunately not too far back. She saw a thin silvery line glinting right in front of Olivia and pulled her back just before her shin would have touched the wire trap. One side was anchored into the wall and the other disappeared around an empty door frame on their right. Sam stepped over the wire and peered around the corner into the mostly empty room. The end of the wire had been rigged to the trigger of a shotgun. She quickly calculated the trajectory and deduced that it would have hit Olivia squarely in the back at a distance of less than two yards. Sam was not sure if the vests they were wearing had been made with such an impact in mind, but she was not willing to risk their lives.

She unhooked the end of the wire from the trigger. "I'll take point."

The corridor they were following stretched straight ahead for about ten yards. The only light came from the rooms opening onto the corridor. It originated from the dirty street lamps outside and formed faint outlines on the floor. Sam carefully checked the door openings for more booby traps, but didn't find anything.

Another cry of pain came from the double doors at the end of the corridor. It took all of Sam's self control not to storm right in and shot whoever got in her way. They stopped in front of the double doors that to her great surprise were a hand's width open. She chanced a quick look around the corner, her breath caught in her throat, but she quickly swallowed the accompanying lump and turned to Fin and Olivia.

In whispered words she explained, "I could see one hostile, with his back to us. He's standing close to some sort of metal table in the middle of the room. The only light in the room comes from a couple of spotlights centered on the table and about half a dozen candles burning in front of a big crucifix. Cassandra is on the table. She seems to be unconscious, and he's trying to revive her. Next to the table is a small rolling tray with knifes and other stuff on it, among others a bloody scalpel. We have two options now, we can either try to sneak up on him or we can create a diversion first – but I guess your SOP is to wait for the SWAT team, right?"

Olivia wanted to tell her that in cases like this one, with a victim in acute danger they didn't have to wait, but before she could open her mouth a cry came from the other room, no, it was more a shout, a long drawn-out "Noooo!".

This time it was Fin who sprinted forward without thinking. He kicked the door open, Olivia was hard on his heels. Passing the threshold she saw the barrel of a rifle aimed at Fin in her peripheral vision. She jumped and tackled him just as it went off, twice. They landed in a heap on the floor.

Sam jumped over them and kicked the man at the table aside just as he was slowly lowering a vicious looking dagger towards Cassandra's chest. He staggered a bit but didn't go down and immediately launched a counter attack. Sam ducked a swipe of the dagger. She grabbed his arm and used his momentum to throw him over. The man, unfortunately, was better trained than she had expected and thus back on his feet before she had a chance to press her advantage.

From now on he was more cautious and used a combination of swipes, jabs and kicks to force her on the defensive. They had moved away from the table, and Sam feared that he only wanted to get her far enough back to turn around and kill Cassie for good. Sam pulled her Ka-Bar from behind her back and suddenly their roles were reversed. He began to retreat and from the direction he was moving in it was obvious to her that he wanted to bring the table with Cassandra still on it between them.

Her opponent was almost a head taller than she was, well muscled and at least half again as heavy but she still had to try. Sam jumped at him, intend on bringing him down but he had the same idea. They collided full on, Sam got the breath knocked out of her and suddenly she found herself with her back on the floor.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her knife next to her but she needed the strength of both of her arms to keep his dagger from cutting her throat. His eyes were almost black and he chanted some sort of prayer in what appeared to be Latin. It had enough in common with the language of the Ancients for her to understand the gist of it.

She felt the muscles in her arms begin to quiver, and knew that she had to do something, and fast. So she told him in Ancient that his quest was done and that God was pleased with his work and that now it was time for him to rest. She was not sure if he understood her, but it created the distraction she needed.

For a moment he sat and stared at her. That gave her the chance to grab her Ka-Bar. Then he seemed to shake himself back to awareness.

"Satan," he shouted, "Satan's whore!"

His knife descended again and she blocked it with her own weapon. It slid off course and sliced her left arm. He recovered quickly and moved the dagger towards her throat. Suddenly it flew out of his hand; he jerked back for a moment and gave her the opening she needed. Her Ka-Bar sunk deep into his left shoulder and she pushed him off of her.

Munch stepped out of the elevator and hurried over to her, "Are you alright, Sam?"

"Yeah, just a scratch. Take care of him, would you? You might want to leave the knife in, I'm not sure what damage it did."

"Will do, Sam. Go and take care of your daughter."

An instant later Sam looked down into tear-filled brown-green eyes. They were sunken in with dark circles all around, but Cassie was still able to smile up at her, "I knew you'd come, Mom told me."

"Yes, Cassie-baby, I'm here and you will be alright," Sam answered softly and kissed her on the forehead.

"Where the hell is that damned bus? I need a hand here, now." Sam heard Melinda's voice.

"Need to close my eyes now, go! Have someone care for your arm," Cassie whispered and closed her eyes.

Where Fin and Olivia had fallen she now found Melinda crouched next to the prone Olivia. Fin was holding a bandage to her side, but luckily that seemed to have stopped bleeding. A look towards her discarded kevlar vest told Sam that the bastard used armor piercing ammunition. Sam knelt next to her friend, the doctor's bag between them, the floor was soaked with blood, and one look at Olivia's still profusely bleeding upper thigh told her that they would have to hurry.

"The femoral artery?" She asked.

"Yes, it's completely shredded, not enough left to easily put it back together. We have to stop the bleeding but…"

"… but it's too high to put a tourniquet on it. I understand. How much time do we have?" Sam asked.

"Five minutes, maybe a couple more. I need you to serve as my nurse. You'll have to hand me what I need," Melinda explained hurriedly.

"You want to ligature the artery, right?" Samantha asked.

"Yes, it's the only way to keep her from bleeding out, but…"

"I know, if you do that she might lose her leg. Any news on the medics?"

"Traffic jam, they're at least ten minutes out," Munch called over.

"Mel, I need you to trust me. Fin, please go downstairs and bring the medics up as soon as they arrive. Melinda will help you to fix the pressure bandage you're holding down."

To their own surprise, Melinda and Fin didn't object but simply obeyed. As soon as he was gone, Sam said, "Mel, I need you to shield what I'm doing as best as you can, and I promise that I will explain it later."

Once again Melinda did as she was told.

Sam let go of the artery she had been holding, put her right hand vertically over her left and pressed both down on the wound. As she had expected the bleeding increased considerably at first, but as soon as she had closed her eyes it diminished and then trickled out. Suddenly the flesh under her hands began to glow. The thigh began to glow, and Sam's hands almost became translucent. She focused her attention first on the artery and then on the surrounding muscle tissue.

Sam stopped when she heard the sound of heavy boots running along the corridor and quickly wrapped a bandage around the still glowing outline of her hands and around Olivia's thigh. The wound was not completely healed but now at least it was no longer life threatening. Then the paramedics arrived and Sam stepped back to let them and Melinda do their work. She stood up and fought down the wave of dizziness trying to overwhelm her. She walked over to the table where John had just finished freeing Cassandra from her restraints.

Before Sam turned her attention on the young woman she ordered, "You should give a status report to Captain Cragen. Tell him that Detective Benson has been shot but that she is stable and that her life is not in danger. Cancel the SWAT team, but call in the crime scene specialists."

"Colonel, yes, Colonel," Munch mock answered, but the expression on his face told her that he didn't take her commanding tone personally.

"Sorry, John, occupational hazard."

"It's alright, Sam. Care for your daughter. We'll take care of the rest."

"Thanks John," Sam said, her attention already back on the unconscious body of her daughter.

Since joining Stargate Command she had seen enough broken bodies to know that Cassie had been gravely injured. With her right hand on her cheek and the left stroking her limbs and torso she could identify every single one of them, a twice broken leg, broken ribs on both sides, multiple bruises and abrasions, a concussion, cuts in the chest area….

She looked up when Olivia was carried into the freight elevator, but quickly returned her attention to Cassie. The broken ribs were her first priority, but what had been draining, but still as natural as breathing when treating Olivia, now didn't work. She could feel the injuries but she couldn't heal them. Then she remembered the cut on her arm and put her hand right on top. It was rather shallow and should have healed in instants, but nothing happened.

Sam sighed, the healing device O'Neill had sent her was in her bag, but with the detectives of the one-six present and the paramedics she couldn't risk using it. Suddenly Melinda was at her side and Cassandra was gently transferred to a stretcher. She was vaguely aware of Melinda giving orders to the men but her focus remained on Cassandra.

Sam refused to let go of the young woman's hand when she was wheeled to the freight elevator and then loaded into the emergency van. She just looked at the closed eyes of her daughter and didn't turn her head, not when the stretcher was unloaded, not when it was wheeled into the emergency area and put into a cubicle next to Olivia. One of the nurses tried to push her out but she just looked at her with ice in her eyes and was left alone.

All the time her mind was stuck in a loop of questions without answer. Why had she not been able to heal Cassie? In all of the tests Jennifer had put her through she never had failed, and the tests had ranged from a paper cut to broken bones. But now, when she really needed it, it didn't work. Why? And why had she not been able to heal herself? Could it have to do with the naqadah in their blood? But Jack also had the alien metal in his blood from his time as a Tok'ra, and she was sure that what she had done to help his knee had worked. She had felt the energy transferring to his body. Why did it work with him and not with Cassie? Why…

-x-x-x-x-x-


	11. Chapter 11: Mercy Hospital

**CH 11: Mercy Hospital**

Alex was pacing the waiting room and Elliot was leaning against a wall, his eyes glued to the entrance of the examination area, a picture of outward calm. Inside he was anything but that. They had been just in time to see the two ambulances arrive. The one with Samantha Carter holding on to the hand of an unconscious young woman had been the first. Then Olivia had been wheeled out of the second bus, Melinda at her side. There had been so much blood and it had taken all of his strength to hold Alex back from throwing herself in the way of the gurney.

The sight alone had brought up memories of a similar situation three and a half years ago, only then it had been Alex on the gurney, and Olivia had to be held back to keep her from following into the trauma unit. Elliot remembered the horror on his partner's face and how she had stood there, right in the middle of the corridor, her eyes glued to the double doors separating her from the woman she loved. He remembered the surgeon coming out after what seemed like days but had been less than an hour, still dressed in bloody scrubs, and how he had told them that Miss Cabot 'had not made it' and that he was sorry for their loss. He remembered the pain in Olivia's eyes, though pain seemed too weak a word for the utter devastation and hopelessness she must have felt.

Her face had turned deadly pale and for a moment he had thought that she would break down, right here in front of everyone, but then she had closed her eyes as if she were listening to an inner voice, and when she had opened them again their vibrant brown had become dull and her face had turned into an unreadable mask.

Finding out that Alex was still alive but would nonetheless be lost to her had made Olivia's mask slip for a moment. He had seen the tears in her eyes and though to the US Marshals standing close by her voice must have sounded completely normal, he had heard her pain. Alex had held herself with rigid control, not moving an inch. They had not tried to touch; the uninformed observer must have thought them nothing more but colleagues or at the most friends.

Elliot turned his head towards Alex who now was standing with her pale face turned towards the double doors to the ER, just as Olivia had done three and a half years earlier. And suddenly he could see past the emotionless mask and for the first time since Olivia had told him about her relationship to their pain-in-the-ass ADA Elliot Stabler understood.

That night, under the watchful eyes of Agent Hammond and the US Marshals, had even one of them made a move towards the other, they never would have let go of each other. In the years that followed he had started to resent Alex for what her disappearance had done to his partner, for the warmth leaving her eyes except when dealing with a child or a victim, for leaving her a shell of the woman she once had been when they had still been together.

After her return for the Connor's trial things had gotten worse. Olivia had buried herself in work, pulling as many double shifts as the captain let her get away with, and when she unexpectedly had returned, released from the Witness Protection Program, even that had not been enough. Yes, he had resented the cold bitch, he had even hated her, but this morning when Olivia had first told him about Alex' being stalked there had been a hint of the old glimmer in her eyes, and when he had seen them standing close together in the squad room, after their return from the crib, the light had been back. Kathy had been right all those years ago: they belonged together and they could only be really happy …

The solid double doors opened and Doctor Melinda Warner stepped into the waiting area. They both rushed towards her and bombarded her with questions.

"Calm down, both of you. Let's take a seat and I'll fill you in. First of all, Liv will be alright. She was shot, one bullet hit her right side, the other her left thigh. No organs were hit but she lost a lot of blood, more than they have here but Don said he would take care of it. So, I guess that there will be an influx of uniforms ready to donate soon."

"So, Liv will recover?" Alex asked, having only heard half of Melinda's words.

"Yes, Alex. She will need some physical therapy; the bullet in the thigh damaged her muscles but she will make a full recovery. Olivia woke up for a few minutes and asked for you. You both can see her in about half an hour, by then she should be settled in their room."

"Thanks, Melinda," Elliot said. "Alex and I can donate too. How are Sam and her daughter?"

A shadow passed over Melinda's face, "The girl went through hell, Elliot. She was beaten and raped, three broken ribs, broken leg, bruises and lacerations almost too many to count, but they got her out alive. She's still unconscious. At the moment they're doing a MRI scan on her skull to find out if there's any damage. Sam got a knife wound on her arm. She asked me to fill you in before she would allow me to sew it up."

"We'll go with you, Melinda," Alex said. "I need to see Olivia."

Olivia had just been settled in a big room. There was an IV line running plasma in her veins and a monitor for her blood pressure and elevated heart rate. Alex immediately stepped next to the bed and took Olivia's hand between her own.

Olivia opened her eyes. Her voice was hoarse, "Lexi, love you. See, kept my promise." She fell asleep with a smile on her face but Alex didn't let go of her hand.

"Melinda, I want to donate blood. Liv and I have the same blood type, " Alex said.

"Of course, Alex. I suppose you want to stay here?" Alex nodded. "Alright, I'll make the arrangements."

A couple of minutes later two nurses brought in an armchair. Alex put her right arm on a cushion on the armrest, but didn't let go of Olivia's hand with her other. Meanwhile one of the nurses sanitized it and put a needle in with practiced ease. In the past when she had donated blood Alex had observed with fascination how her blood filled the bag, now she didn't give it even a single glance. All her attention was still riveted on Olivia's sleeping face and the regular beeping of the heart monitor.

Alex was so focused that she didn't even realize when the nurses returned to collect the blood and put a band-aid on her arm. It also didn't register with her when about an hour later another bed was rolled in, complete with a plethora of surveillance equipment.

Sam was right next to the bed and also completely oblivious to her surroundings. Her eyes were fixed on Cassie's face, willing her to wake up.

The MRI had shown intra-cranial swelling probably caused by repeated blows to the head. The doctor to whom Sam had talked had reassured her that the swelling would go down in time and that she should not worry. He also had told her to go home and get a good night's sleep; something she certainly wouldn't do. Sam was determined not to let Cassie out of her eyes.

She felt the touch of a hand on her own and looked up. Melinda smiled at her. "How you're holding up, Sam?"

"I'm fine, Mel," Sam answered automatically.

"You're still a bad liar, Sam Carter," Mel said. "How are you really?"

"I'll be fine as soon as Cassie wakes up," Sam said softly and turned her eyes back to the bed.

Melinda's hand found Sam's chin and made her look at her, "Sam, sweetie, look at me. It will take a few days for the swelling to go down. We'll take another MRI the day after tomorrow. There should be some progress visible by then. I know that you won't leave, Sam, but you have to change out of these bloody clothes. The CSU needs them. I brought some scrubs for you. We'll see about other clothes tomorrow. Go to the bathroom over there, take a shower; I'll stay with Cassie."

Sam obediently showered and changed into the green pants and top and then took a seat in the armchair Melinda had let bring in. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. She didn't even stir when Elliot checked on them some time later and brought the duffle bag with her clothes she had left in Olivia's apartment as well as something for Olivia and Alex to wear. Munch and Fin also stopped by to assure themselves that everyone would be alright.

-x-x-x-

The next morning Sam was mortified when she heard that she not only had slept through the visitors but also through the frequent check-ups by nurses and doctors. Years of training and more than ten long years of going off-world and having to deal with a probably hostile environment had made her a very light sleeper. Even on Atlantis, where nightly disturbances were few and far between, she was usually wide awake at the first beep of her comm. link.

Rationally she knew that after the emotional stress of the last few days her reaction was more than understandable. She also knew that healing Olivia even if it had not been a complete healing had seriously depleted her energy reserves, otherwise she would not have been dizzy right afterwards.

Thanks to Vala she had learned how to master the Goa'uld healing device. She had started with paper cuts and worked her way up to more difficult things. The Tok'ra Malek, one of the few Tok'ra she trusted, mostly, her little-Jack-voice added, had taught her a lot about how it worked. For instance the fact that though it could heal normal humans, it only was one hundred percent effective when treating someone with a symbiote, respectively the protein marker and naqadah in the blood.

Her new, Ancient derived healing ability, however, was still something of a mystery. Despite abundant tests Jennifer Keller, Atlantis' CMO, had not been able to find out what this DNA resequencer Rodney had found had really done to her.

The effects on the other hand were more than impressive. Before Sam had not been able to get even the most basic Ancient equipment on Atlantis to work. The gene therapy Carson Beckett had invented had not worked with her. The protein marker had broken it down before it had a chance to work. Now she no longer had any problems with Ancient technology and a few of the things no one had been able to figure out thanks to her had now been demystified. And not only did the technology come to life as soon as she touched it, she also understood the science that made it work. Reading Ancient now came as naturally to her as her native English, and then there were her healing abilities…

Sam remembered the day about three months ago when Rodney McKay had called her to come down to yet another newly discovered lab at the far reaches of the city. She remembered that she had thought how ironic it was that they were able to get the whole city to fly or to submerge in water or to make it disappear under a cloak but that even after more than three years they had not yet been able to inspect all of its rooms. She had not wanted to go down there…

She had tons of paperwork to wade through for the IOC and General Landry and more importantly a training session with Teyla to attend. Besides, she really was not in the mood to subject herself to Rodney's overexcited ramblings. However, when she heard Zelenka and Ronon Dex warning Rodney to be careful what to touch she decided to at least have a look, if only to try and keep him in line.

When she stepped out of the transport booth, still about five hundred yards from the lab, she could already hear them arguing. For the umpteenth time she wished that she could simply take a page out of Jack O'Neill's rather slim book on diplomacy and lock them away somewhere, preferably in a soundproof room.

Ronon was leaning against the wall to the left of the door. His arms were crossed over his chest and his expression left no doubt that he had already tried to get the two lead scientists to calm down, albeit apparently without much success.

"What's going on, gentlemen?" Sam asked but was ignored.

She whistled harshly and that let them finally look up. Zelenka hurried towards her, worry and anger warring on his face, while Rodney called her over to his place in front of a console with an impatient gesture. He took a step to the side to give her some space and Sam had her first good look at his newest find.

She remembered all too well how it had felt to be subjected to a machine like that, how the after-effects had felt a few years ago. She remembered the excruciating pain as if something wanted to claw its way right out of her. She remembered Nirrti's malicious smile when she had told her that the machine had been calibrated to kill her the slowest and most painful way possible.

Sam heard only with half an ear how Rodney was babbling about DNA and endless possibilities. So, he had that much right. She also remembered most of Nirrti's test subjects dying a painful death, and she remembered studying Nirrti's notes with Janet and how they had deemed the machine itself too dangerous to even try and retrieve it. And though they now had a much better understanding of Ancient technology, this infernal machine was still not less dangerous.

Sam acted on instinct, "Carter to Security. Send two guards to my location. I need a lab sealed off."

The order got Rodney's attention. Usually a lab was only sealed off when its contents had been deemed too dangerous, and usually that only happened after lengthy and careful deliberations, thorough tests or if something had gone terribly wrong.

"You got to be kidding me! We can't simply turn our back on an opportunity such as this."

"Do I look like I'm kidding? Pack your stuff, Rodney, this room is off limits," Sam said calmly.

"Who do you think you are, Carter? God-father himself? How stupid are you? Retro-engineered it could put an end to any and all illnesses caused by gene defects."

Rodney had still not learned when to quit but his clumsy attempt to bait her did not work. He always tried to make her angry to get what he wanted, just as he had always whined to convince Elizabeth to agree to one or the other of his more harebrained ideas. Getting her to lose her calm would put him as the rational scientist and turn his innate stubbornness and insubordination into an expression of scientific dedication.

"It's not up to discussion, Rodney. This machine can only be tested with living specimens, animals or plants don't work," Sam said in a voice one would use to talk to a stubborn, slightly retarded five-year-old, "There's not the slightest margin for error. One tiny mistake and your test subject will die, slowly and painfully. They practically dissolve from within. It's not a nice view."

Rodney as usual only heard what he wanted to hear, "So, you know what this is, right? With your knowledge and my genius it will be easy to get it to work properly."

"What part of 'no' and 'off limits' didn't you understand, Rodney? This machine is too dangerous. The lab will be sealed until further notice, and I'll only consider to change my mind should you find an instruction manual complete with a reliable translation. That's my last word and just for the record: yes, on this base I'm the next best thing to God, the father himself," Sam answered and silently berated herself for letting him get to her once again. His chauvinistic attitude and boorish behavior had aggravated her from day one, when his projections had almost cost Teal'c his life.

Radek Zelenka and the other three scientists had already packed up their equipment but Rodney was still standing at the control console, searching for a scathing response, but had he looked beyond his own wants and needs, he would have seen that there would be no further discussion.

John Shepard who had accompanied the two Marines sent to seal the room, however, saw it immediately. As a rule he liked to argue just for the sake of arguing, and after the first few days when they had really butted heads they had made it into a mutually enjoyable game. This time the expression in her eyes told him that she was more than serious and didn't offer any protests.

Rodney on the other hand used the distraction their arrival created to return his attention to the panel in front of him.

He was pretty sure that he understood about a quarter of the symbols on the touch screen and had a firm grasp on the meaning of about another quarter. That was more than with other bits of Ancient technology they had found and restored to working order. He was confident he could get it to work despite Carter's overcautious objections.

Encouraged by the fact that the whole panel had lit up at the first touch, he muttered something about 'military tyranny' and 'dumb blondes'. Radek called his name to get him going but he ignored him. He started to randomly touch symbols but nothing happened. Then a young scientist from Russia who had arrived only a few weeks ago via Midway station passed what appeared to be an inlaid circle on the floor. The machine came to life and a white light began to rise from the circle.

Sam saw it, pushed the young woman out of the circle and was engulfed in the light. John moved instinctively to pull her out but he was too late.

It felt as if the light was turning her inside out, starting with her feet and ankles and slowly working its way up to her head. She felt it piercing her skull. In Nirrti's dungeon she had been able not to show her pain, but this time she couldn't stop herself from crying out. She opened her mouth but there was no sound. She wanted to close her eyes but she couldn't, her eyelids refused to close. So, she saw Rodney arguing with John; Radek and the three others stared at her with open-mouthed alarm, and still she was shouting without a sound.

She felt strangely detached when Rodney began to touch the symbols again, in reverse order to his first try. She knew enough about his methods to predict what he would do next. He would try to open the base of the console to bypass the original programming and run it through his analyzer, and if that didn't work he would try to destroy it.

Sam knew that nothing would or could stop what was happening to her now. She instinctively knew that it had to run its course or it would kill her. Meanwhile the light seemed to focus on her head only. It became hard to think and to see clearly.

For a fleeting moment she thought, "That's not the end I imagined but at least it will end this life without her, without Janet." And the pain stopped. But Janet would not want her to give up. Janet wanted her to live and to be happy, and usually she was – at least as happy as one can be with half of their heart and soul missing. The pain was back, but now Sam smiled. She would not give up, she would not let some stupid machine kill her.

Sam looked down and focused on her hands. It took an enormous effort to raise them high enough to touch the edge of the column of light in which she was imprisoned. She had expected to feel some kind of electrical jolt repelling her from the light, instead she felt warmth and comfort.

Closing her eyes suddenly was no longer difficult, but instead of familiar darkness she looked into Janet's loving brown eyes. Janet smiled at her and she heard her much missed, beloved voice in her head.

"I'm very proud of you, my love, you're very brave. I love you, Sammy, I always will and I'm waiting for you. Now is not your time. You're needed here, on Atlantis, on Earth. Cassie needs you. Be happy until we meet again."

Sam felt herself answering, "I love you too, Jan."

The image of Janet disappeared. Sam opened her eyes and saw how Ronon pulled his stunner and shot the console. Then everything went black.

When she came to again Sam found herself in the Atlantis infirmary. She had to actually look around to recognize her whereabouts since she was not as familiar with its ceiling as she was with the one at Cheyenne Mountain. Teyla was sitting at her bedside and seemed relieved to see her opening her eyes.

Sam asked, "How long? What happened?"

Her voice was so hoarse that these simple words caused a coughing fit which in turn brought their CMO to her bed. Jennifer looked even more relieved than Teyla.

Sam obediently accepted the ice chips Jennifer gave her and at the first opportunity she ordered, "Report, Doctor Keller."

Jennifer, though a little shy in every day life, was usually extremely confident in her domain, but on this day she avoided eye contact with Sam. So, Teyla did the talking.

"Doctor McKay could see that you were suffering but nothing he did seemed to have any effect on the machine. He didn't know what else to do; so, he asked Ronon to shoot the machine. He did but half a heartbeat before the energy of the stunner hit it, the light that held you captive disappeared and you fell to the floor, unconscious. The shot caused a chain reaction and the whole lab was destroyed. That was three days ago."

Jennifer had regained her composure. "I checked you out, but I couldn't find anything wrong, except for the fact that you simply didn't wake up. I tried everything, smelling salts, cold water, stimulants, nothing worked. Your breathing and heart rate were normal, but the MRI I did came back a complete blank. The MRI pictures were black and the EEG did not a single peep. I didn't know what to do and wanted to call Stargate Command to send a specialist, but since you seemed otherwise alright I agreed to wait until our scheduled contact which will be in seven …

"Sam, Sam, your cell phone is ringing!" Alex said.

That brought her out of her reminscencing, "Thank you, Alex."

Sam fished the modified Blackberry out of her bag and stepped on the small balcony of the room.

"Oh God, Daniel, I'm so sorry. I should have called right after we found her…"

Any further word was drowned out by loud hollering at the other end of the line. "Let me talk to her, Sam, I have to hear her voice."

"I'm sorry, Daniel. Cassie is in a coma. There is considerable swelling in her brain, but the doctors here are confident that it will go down on its own. They're doing another MRI tomorrow, just to make sure," Sam answered.

"What happened? How did you find her? What happened to her?"

Sam knew that Daniel would not be content with a short version. So, she told him everything from the men finding the bikers and their arrival at the Wizard's Wheels to the current prognosis, including her inability to heal Cassie's injuries as she had done with Olivia and what she suspected were Cassandra's re-emerged telekinetic abilities. He listened carefully and then proposed to let Carolyn Lam have a look at the MRI pictures.

"That's a good idea, Daniel. I'll make sure to get a copy and send them to her. Have her call me when she had a chance to evaluate them, okay?"

"Sure thing, Sam. And now tell me, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Danny, I got out of it with only a scratch, and with the tiny stitches Melinda put in yesterday evening it won't even leave a scar. I'm fine."

"A wound that requires stitches is not just a scratch, Sam. Did you tell her that most painkillers and deadening agents don't work with you before you let her sew you up?" He asked with a hint of reproach.

Sam laughed, "Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer, Danny? No, I didn't tell Melinda that the shot she gave me would not work. We were still in the observation room of the MRI with other doctors and nurses around, not the ideal situation for a lengthy explanation. That's something I'll postpone as long as possible. I promised her an explanation when I healed Olivia, and Olivia deserves to know what really happened to her, but don't have the faintest idea what to tell them."

"Just forget about the regulations and follow your heart, Sam."

"That's easy for you to say, Daniel," Sam countered.

"No, it isn't, Sam, you military minds have me all corrupted. Tell me, does this doctor, Melinda, does she trust you?"

"Yes."

"Would she still trust you if you simply told her that what she saw is top secret and that that's all the explanation she'll get? Would she still be your friend?"

"Probably not," Sam answered.

"Then the question you'll have to ask yourself is: Do you want her as your friend? Do you want to stay in touch now that you have found her again?" Daniel said.

"I'll think about it, Daniel. Did you find anything at the IOC?"

"No, not really, apart from the fact that they are all paranoid, egotistical bastards, but we knew that already. They have contingency plans for contingency plans, and I'm not even sure if President Hayes and the other heads of State know what goes through their minds. I made a copy and sent it to Jack. He will know what to do with it. I'll go back tomorrow. Perhaps then I'll have more luck. They don't know yet that you're on Earth. So, try to keep a low profile, and to quote our fearless leader, 'that's an order, Carter'."

Sam laughed at Daniel's Jack imitation but quickly once again got serious, "That might be easier said than done. The guy I wounded is a serial killer, that's bound to make some waves. I doubt that it will be possible to keep my name out of it, but I'll try my best. I'll keep you posted. Take care of yourself and tell Jack to be careful. I don't want him to risk his career to protect me. I'm a big girl and can take the consequences of my actions."

"Jack would tell you that there is no better reason to risk a career he has not even asked for," Daniel replied.

"Yes, he would, but still…" There was a knock on the balcony door and Sam turned around. She saw Captain Cragen, Melinda, Alex and a few other people she didn't know. "Listen, Daniel, I have to go. It seems as if I'm needed inside."

-x-x-x-

Sam put the cell phone away and opened the door. At the intense scrutiny she suddenly found herself under she was relieved that she had changed from the scrubs into a pair of Jeans and a shirt right after waking up this morning. Captain Cragen greeted her and asked about Cassie.

Since he had addressed her as Sam she answered in kind. "There's been no change so far, Don. Her vital signs are stable. So, for now we have to wait. How can I help you, Captain?"

"First of all let me introduce, Captain Anita VanBuren, Homicide, Jack McCoy from the DA's office, Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner and Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi from the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. It seems that they have some questions for you, Colonel Carter."

"I'll answer their questions to the best of my abilities, Captain, but wouldn't it be better to wait until Detective Benson is sufficiently recovered? Catch two birds with one stone, so to speak. Besides, I'm sure that Detective Tutuola and Sergeant Munch already have filled out their reports. You already know what happened at the warehouse. You all can surely understand that I'm reluctant to leave my daughter's side at the moment."

"There's no record that you even have a daughter, Miss Carter," David Rossi said.

"I'm listed as her next of kin, Special Agent Rossi, apart from that it's none of your business. You have to try another strategy if you want to distract everyone from the fact that you and the BAU have dropped the ball in the so-called slicer-case."

Rossi stared at Sam, and the anger in his eyes was clearly visible. "That's …, that's preposterous. I in…" Rossi burst out, but Aaron Hotchner's hand on his arm stopped him.

"I told you that this was not the time to introduce the FBI, Jack," Anita Van Buren said. "I apologize, Colonel Carter. The truth is we didn't come here to subject you to an interrogation, but to ask for your help."

"My help?" Sam asked, and suppressed the impulse to add, 'I'm just a simple soldier. You have the perps. What could I do that highly trained professionals can't?' She didn't want to antagonize the BAU agents by channeling Jack O'Neill. It was worrying enough that they obviously had already made inquiries about her.

"The man Sergeant Munch arrested last night has yet to be identified. The knife wound has been treated and he's waiting for the transport to Rikers. He doesn't talk with us or with his lawyer. The only thing he said was that he would give an account of his work in the name of God to, and I quote, 'the blond angel who brought me absolution and the beginning of the end of my time in purgatory'."

"That's strange. Yesterday he called me Satan's whore. Captain Cragen, what's Doctor Huang's take on him? Does he want to use me for an insanity plea? And what about the others, did you get this Carl to talk?"

"The young woman, Gwen Green, gave us detailed information, dates and locations that match what we know about the slicer. She couldn't give us many names, but her testimony alone will be enough to convince every jury. The other men also started talking very fast when they began to understand that being an accessory to murder in New York has the same penalties as committing the murder. Carl Eissler was a rather tough nut to break, but Captain VanBuren did it. He made a full confession." Jack McCoy said.

"Captain Cragen said that you are with the DA's office, right?" Sam said. "But this is a SVU case. Shouldn't Casey Novak be here?"

"She's busy with arraignments. It's still her case. I have more experience with homicide cases, so I'll act as her second chair. I told Arthur Branch, our DA, that she doesn't need me, but he insisted," Jack answered defensively and then added, "Besides, Alex, the boss wants you back at the office, ASAP."

Alex groaned, but didn't leave Olivia's side, "I'll stay here. Could you please call and have my secretary send over one of the junior ADA's with the most pressing cases?"

"Are you sure, Alex? He's not in a very generous mood today," Jack asked.

"I'm sure, and if he doesn't like it, he can kiss…"

"Alexandra Caroline Cabot, language, young lady," the voice came from the entrance to the by now a bit crowded room.

"Mother! What are you doing here?"

"At the moment, keeping you from sounding like a brat, all in all, to make sure that you and Olivia are alright. I tried to call your cell phone but it immediately went to voice mail, and I had a rather unpleasant conversation with your ex-fiancé Robert, not to speak of another one with Robert's mother and one with Arthur Branch."

"Mrs. Cabot, do you by any chance have caller-id at your phone?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I do. When I heard that it was Robert I wrote the number down. This boy has never been anything but trouble. But why would you want to know? And who are you, young woman?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cabot. I'm Colonel Samantha Carter, US Air Force. Please accept my apologies for not introducing myself right away. Your daughter and Detective Benson helped me to get my daughter back. I'm in their debt. With the number we might find out where Robert White is at the moment and he could be taken into custody."

"You're Sam, Olivia's friend, Alex told me about you. Here's the number." Caroline Cabot handed Sam a piece of paper she took out of a side pocket of her Prada handbag.

Sam bent down to retrieve her laptop from her bag.

"Sam, I appreciate your help, but don't you think that dealing with this other matter should have precedence."

"No, Alex, I don't. The murderer is in custody, Robert White is still out there and thus a threat. I know that Olivia wants you to be as safe as possible, and you'll only be safe when he's out of the picture," Sam answered inflexibly while booting her computer.

"I think I like you, Colonel Samantha Carter," Alex' mother said. Alex herself looked at her with wide eyes.

"Thank you, Mrs. Cabot, then please call me, Sam, officially the colonel is on vacation."

Out of the corner of her eyes Sam saw how the BAU agents tried to slip behind her and observe what she was doing. She allowed it since tracing a phone didn't need any of the specialized programs she had installed from the DVD Rodney had given to her.

"It's a cell phone number. It's registered to Peger, Ruslin and Durst. The signal came from the tower on top of the Plaza." Sam looked up. "Alex, yesterday you said that you wanted to check into the Plaza. Have you reserved a room?"

Alex only nodded.

"Then I guess, Captain, with a bit of luck you'll find Robert in Alex' room at the Plaza. I suggest you send a few officers in civvies, and it also might be a good idea to post a uniform in front of this door."

"The uniform has already been posted there last night, Sam. I'll call the one-six and send Elliot and Munch over to the Plaza. Anita, would you fill Colonel Carter in on what our psychologist thinks?"

"Sure, Don. Doctor Huang was surprised at his request, especially after he had read Detective Tutuola's report on the fight between the two of you. CSU found recording equipment in the room in which Cassandra Fraiser has been held, so, there might be visual proof on all of his crimes. They just have to find it yet. Bottom line is, Doctor Huang tried to get him to talk, the FBI tried their luck. Huang thinks that it's at least worth a try. As long as he does not talk we won't know how nuts he is and if he really doesn't know the difference between right or wrong. But he also wanted us to warn you. Should he really talk he will with great probability give you every single bloody detail of every crime he has ever committed or even thought of committing."

"I understand. I'll come with you. Melinda could you please keep an eye on Cassie. In the meantime could you get your hands on a copy of Cassie's MRI files and send them to this email account. I want her regular doctor to have a look at them. I'll leave my cell phone with you. Carolyn Lam, that's the name of Cassie's doctor, will call and give you her impressions."

"No problem, Sam. I'll have the whole chart sent over. Don't let this guy rattle you too much."

"Thank you, Mel." Sam embraced her friend and strode out of the room, after she had kissed Cassandra tenderly on the forehead. She clearly expected the others to follow her lead which they did.

As soon as the door had closed Alex asked, "Did I just see her simply take charge? And did I hear her put the great Jack McCoy in his place?"

"You did, Alex. She also impressed this FBI guy to no end, the younger one, and Don seems ready to adopt her, though I don't like the way this Special Agent Rossi was looking at her," Melinda answered. "Mrs. Cabot, why don't you take a seat and we'll fill you in on what's going on? What you just overheard must have been a bit confusing."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	12. Chapter 12: The Interview

**CH 12: The Interview**

Sam was surprised when they drove to the one-six instead of going to Rikers Island. Cragen shrugged his shoulders at her question and said, "It's our case; so, we'll do it at our playground. Our perp is already waiting in interrogation room one. Fin is with him, in case he decides to speak, but I guess Fin is still returning his silent treatment with stares of his own."

Followed by Captain VanBuren and the BAU agents they joined George and Casey at the one-way mirror. The man sitting at the drab table had his left arm in a sling and was cuffed to the chair with his right hand. He was looking straight ahead, but from where Sam was standing it seemed as if he was looking at nothing in particular, not at Fin, not at the wall, not at the mirror.

"Any ideas or advice, George?" She asked.

"No, not really, just be as angelic as possible," George answered without even a hint of sarcasm.

Sam's eyes widened and then she grinned. It had taken her a lot of time and Janet's help to accept that many people found her more than just attractive, and usually it would go against her grain to use her looks this way, but she was convinced that it would help to get this man to talk.

"You know, Doc, you have a point here. Jeans and a shirt might not be the best attire. I'll go and change."

The younger of the two BAU agents used the ten minutes it took Sam to change into the business suit to set up a camera to film the whole encounter.

"We have our own surveillance equipment, gentlemen, you could simply ask for a copy," Casey said. "Besides, we probably won't be able to use the recording in court."

"It's more for our own use. It also might be a good idea to have Miss Carter wear a wire. This way we could let her know if this whole thing starts to go into the wrong direction," Rossi said.

"That's for Colonel Carter to decide. It's her game now," Captain Cragen said with emphasis on Sam's rank.

"What's for me to decide?" Sam asked from behind. She had changed into the grey slacks of the business suit and the off-white silk blouse. Her long blond hair was open and had been combed to a shine.

"Impressive, now you're only missing the wings," George said. "My colleagues from the FBI want you to wear an earpiece to give you instructions should the need arise. It's standard procedure."

"No, not a chance," Sam answered. "This guy was paranoid enough to set up two potentially deadly booby traps; he would not take me seriously if he found out and he would clam up."

"Three booby traps, Sam. Munch disarmed one at the entrance of the freight elevator," Don corrected her. "Now, let's get this show on the road. Be careful in there, don't provoke him too much. His confession is not worth risking another injury."

"I'll stay on my guard and you guys can come in there in just a few seconds. But please, only do so when I call you or he attacks me," Sam replied.

-x-x-x-

Fin left without a word when Sam entered the small room. She took the seat he had just vacated and for a few minutes the serial killer and Sam just stared at each other. The killer was the one who spoke first.

"Yesterday you came to me disguised as the devil's whore, but now you look like the angel you are. Why?"

"Is it your place to question me, child of sin?" Sam asked softly in Ancient. "I'm as mortal as you are. It is not for us to judge."

He answered in English, "The ways of the Lord, Our God, are his alone. I committed sins against the laws of mortal men to purge the souls of those who have lost their way. I'm ready to be judged."

"It is not my place to judge. It is for me to listen," Sam answered.

"You are the witness. You will guide me through the recollection of my life and my sins," he said.

"I am the witness. I will hear your confession to your God in the name of mortal men," Sam said.

He started to pray in Latin. It was unlike every other Catholic prayer Sam had ever heard, not that she had extensive experience in the matter. Her mother had been a very spiritual person but had never been keen on dogma and the only religion her father had known was the military code of conduct. Dealing with self-proclaimed gods on an almost daily basis hadn't helped her respect for organized faith either. With Janet she had gone to mass the night before Christmas, but without her it would only have been an empty gesture.

None of the prayers she remembered from those services, however, had anything to do with what she heard now. She had a hard time with some of the words but basically the man listed the sins he felt the calling to purge from the mortal world in the name of the Lord, sins like arrogance and pride, willfulness and independence. And he ended with the repeated incantation, "The Lord, Our God, is almighty, and his will be done."

He looked expectantly at her and Sam repeated her former statement in Ancient, "I am the witness. I will hear your confession."

-x-x-x-

It took Melinda and Alex more than an hour to fill Caroline Cabot in on what had happened during the last couple of days. When they had reached the point of having found the warehouse, a soft groan came from Olivia's bed and refocused everyone's attention.

Olivia's eyes widened when she saw Alex' smiling face looking down at her. She raised her hand from the bed and Alex took it between her own.

"You're real, you're not a dream," Olivia whispered.

"Yes, my sleeping beauty, I'm real. I'm here. I won't leave you, never again."

Alex bent down and put a soft kiss on Olivia's parched lips. She then manipulated the settings of the bed to help her in a more upright position and gave her some water.

"What happened? Cassie, Sam, Fin? Are they alright?" Olivia asked hoarsely.

Alex started to fill her in on Cassandra Fraiser's status and Sam's whereabouts but was soon interrupted by the hourly visit of one of the doctors who promptly admonished her on not having called as soon as Olivia had opened her eyes.

Olivia immediately tried to rise in an instinctual move to defend Alex but sunk back into the mattress with a groan when her side and her leg sent waves of pain through her body at the slight movement. Alex angrily glared at the man and barked at him to do his job and give Olivia something for the pain.

The doctor, a heavy-set man with a receding hairline who had to look up to Alex retorted that she should stay out of his business and that he would call hospital security to have her and her troublesome friends escorted off the premises. He ranted on that all these police officers coming in to donate blood had severely disrupted his orderly floor and that her staying the night was against hospital policy.

"Just try it and you won't like the consequences," Alex almost growled and returned to her place at Olivia's side.

Olivia in the meantime had wrestled herself in a sitting position and used her hands to move her uncooperative injured leg over the side of her bed. Alex pushed her gently back and tucked her in.

"No, love, you have to rest."

Melinda had also moved from the other side of the room to where she had retired with Caroline to give the other two some privacy right after Olivia had opened her eyes. She gave the doctor a scathing look and checked the IV lines and the monitoring equipment still attached to Olivia.

"Melinda, what are you doing here?" Olivia asked.

"Initially, keeping an eye on Cassandra Fraiser as long as Sam is gone; at the moment, making sure that you don't do anything stupid, Detective. You almost died last night. Sam didn't save your life for you to risk it in a fit of temper or misguided chivalry. So, stay put," Melinda said firmly and then fell abruptly silent.

The worry in her eyes told Olivia that she was serious about her life having been in danger and at the mention of Sam's name a flurry of disconcerting images rushed through her mind. She saw the barrel of the gun pointed at Fin, felt the searing pain in her side and her leg, heard Fin's frantic call for a bus. She saw Melinda's face hovering over her own, telling her not to move and to breathe as slowly as possible. She saw the pool of blood forming at the side, her blood. She heard Melinda asking about the EMTs, and then there were blue eyes set in a golden frame and heat flowing through her and the feeling of safety, like coming home.

"Sam saved my life," Olivia finally said. "She stopped the bleeding, but how? If you couldn't, how could she? She's not a doctor."

Melinda looked around and saw that Caroline and the doctor were gone, "I don't know how she did it, Liv, but Sam not only stopped the bleeding, she healed you. According to the official report of the paramedics and the ER team the bullet hitting your thigh damaged tissue and muscles. By the time I reached you you already had lost a lot of blood. Fin pressed his hand against your side but the more dangerous wound was your leg. It was too high for a tourniquet. It took awhile before I could clearly see. Olivia, your femoral artery was not only nicked, it was completely shredded. There was nothing I could do but to try and ligature the artery itself and hope that we could get you to an OR fast enough to save your leg, but the bus was stuck in a traffic jam and I couldn't risk transporting you. Then Sam took over…"

"She put her hands on my wound and suddenly the pain was gone," Olivia said with a certain tone of reverence in her voice. "I could feel her, like a presence in my mind, calming me, almost singing to me. It was peaceful. She told me that it was time to sleep now and that you would be waiting for me, Alex."

Alex again was holding Olivia's hands between her own but her eyes were on Melinda's face. "Why didn't you tell me yesterday? I could have lost her."

"When we arrived at the ER the danger was over and Olivia was stable. I never even intended to tell her. It just came out because I was worried. To put it bluntly, Alex, without Sam by the time the bus had arrived Olivia would either have bled out or she would have lost her leg due to lack of blood circulation. I don't know how she did it, but by putting her hands on the wound Sam not only stopped the bleeding, she repaired the artery and most of your muscle tissue. She promised that she would explain it but we didn't have a chance just yet. I'm afraid we'll have to…"

Sam's Blackberry rang and Melinda fished it out of the bag still hanging on the backrest of the chair next to Cassandra's bed without finishing her sentence. Doctor Carolyn Lam, chief medical officer of Stargate Command, was at the other end and after a few awkward moments the two doctors began to discuss Cassie's medical situation.

-x-x-x-

When Alex simply turned her back on the doctor to once again focus on Olivia Caroline could see in his posture that he was about to do something very ill-advised. She had to get him away from Alex before he was treated to one of the very rare but all the more forceful eruptions of the temper her daughter had inherited from her father. When Alex had been younger it had put her into all kinds of trouble with teachers and other authority figures, and after Alexander Cabot's death she had funneled it into a passion for justice – a passion that once had brought her an arrest for contempt of court, had got her suspended for using an only marginally legal method to find evidence against a child molester, and had ultimately forced her into witness protection.

Caroline looked at the name tag on the man's white coat and said, "Doctor Brown, please follow me."

Despite his anger he did just that. There was something about this distinguished looking woman with the piercing blue eyes that would have made it difficult not to obey her requests.

"Doctor Brown, my name is Caroline Cabot. I apologize for my daughter's outburst. She is under a lot of stress at the moment. I also apologize should the Police Department have impeded the smooth functioning of your floor. They are only worried about one of their own," Caroline said with a side glance at the young uniformed officer standing guard to the left of the door.

"Oh, I'm not here for Detective Benson, Ma'am, though I really hope that I'll get a chance to talk to her. She's a legend at the Academy. I'm here to protect the victim, she's also our only witness in a serial rape-homicide," Brown said.

"So, Officer Mecca, do you really think blurting out that fact to the whole world will help you to keep the victim safe?" Elliot's voice came suddenly from the side. "Mrs. Cabot, it's good to see you again."

"Detective Stabler, it's been a long time. Though I still should be angry with you for not telling me the truth about my daughter," Caroline answered.

"Olivia told me that you forgave her, after having made her feel about two inches tall," Elliot answered and tried one of the puppy dog looks that never had worked with either Olivia or Alex.

"I was only teasing," Caroline said and patted him on the arm. So at least the puppy dog eyes seemed to work on the mother. "Detective Munch, it's nice to see you too. I guess you didn't have any luck apprehending Robert White?"

"We missed him by less than half an hour. He also left the cell phone at the hotel he has used to call you, Mrs. Cabot. I'm sorry," Munch said.

"I'm sure you will get him the next time. Olivia woke up a few minutes ago. Doctor Warner is checking her out at the moment. Give her a few minutes. I'm sure she will come to call me back in as soon as she's finished. And now, please, excuse me. I have to talk to Doctor Brown here."

Elliot and John nodded and Caroline took the doctor aside. To her surprise his feelings, oscillating between anger and curiosity, were easy to read from his face. So, it was no surprise to her when he retreated to a realm he knew well.

"Detective Benson has lost a lot of blood, considering her injuries more than she should have. She needs rest and all those visitors just keep her from recuperating."

"From a purely medical point of view you are undoubtedly right, Doctor, but if you take everything into consideration you will find that Detective Benson will recover more quickly if she is allowed all those visitors. I've known her for about six years now, and this is not the first time that she has been injured in the line of duty. Seeing a friendly face and being kept up-to-date on what's happening will greatly help her recovery," Caroline explained.

"This is highly irregular, and it's against hospital policy," Doctor Brown said. "Usually we don't even allow married couples to spend the night together, and the two women in there sure as hell are not married."

"They would be if the laws of the State of New York would allow it, but that's not the point. The point, Doctor Brown, is that sometimes common sense should take precedence over hospital policy. And if you can't find it in your heart to disregard your rules for them, do it to indulge the whims of an old woman."

"Caroline Cabot, if there's one thing you'll never be, it's old," a voice boomed from behind.

Caroline turned around and smiled, "Wolf. Who told you that I'm here?"

She accepted the hug from the tall silver-haired man. They had grown up together and kept their childhood friendship alive during all of life's tribulations. Among others he now was the chairman of the board of directors of this and two other hospitals.

"Just a little bird. I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you sooner. Antonia said that Alexandra is here, but I didn't see her name among the admittances," he answered with a hint of worry in his voice.

"Alex is fine, Harry. Her friend Detective Benson has been shot yesterday."

"Olivia Benson? Our Olivia Benson? Are they finally back together? What happened to her? Will she recover?"

"The one and only, Harry. Melinda Warner, Olivia's doctor, said that she'll need some physical therapy but that she will recover, but it's a long, convoluted story," Caroline answered.

"Then why don't you tell it to me over lunch, Caroline," he said with a smile and turned his attention to the doctor who just now remembered why the name Cabot seemed so familiar to him. "Doctor Brown, please make sure that the patient and her companions and visitors have everything they want."

Brown wanted to protest that he was a highly trained medical professional and that catering to the whims of a group of police officers and dykes was certainly not in his job description, but he didn't. Instead he kept the inscription at the entrance of one relatively new wing of the hospital in mind, the inscription that said A. Cabot Wing. He certainly wouldn't commit professional suicide by offending one of Mercy's most important donors. But he could order one of his subalterns to take over the care of those troublesome patients.

So, he only answered, "Of course, Professor Wolf," and bustled over to the nurse's station.

Caroline left at Harry Wolf's arm after having told Elliot to let Alex know that she would be back soon. As soon as they were gone Elliot decided that he had waited long enough. He knocked on the door to Room 314 and entered. Olivia had fallen asleep again and Melinda was still on the phone with Carolyn Lam.

-x-x-x-

Fin looked decidedly pale and Casey ran out of the room with her hands pressed firmly on her mouth. She barely made it to the Ladies' Room before throwing up.

Casey had seen a lot since being assigned to the Special Victims Unit; murder, mutilations, depravities of all kind. She had read all the reports, heard eye witnesses, seen the victims, inspected crime scenes but nothing in all those years had prepared her for what she had just heard, what this man in the interrogation room was still telling in a calm voice, a voice as calm and emotionless as if he were reading a laundry list.

She gargled to get the taste out of her mouth and washed her face. She didn't want to return to that room. She didn't want to learn more about him than what she already had heard, but still she returned and stood facing the mirror and tried to ignore the various expressions of disgust and unease and nausea on the faces of the others.

Casey told herself that it not only was part of her job to listen to this man but that she also owed it to the victims. Still, she felt the bile rise once again and only fought the urge down by focusing her attention on Sam.

The blonde woman gave not the slightest indication that she was in any way surprised or appalled by what he had to tell. Whenever he started to search for words, she got him to continue, either in English or this not quite Latin he seemed to have no problem to understand. It sounded strangely musical and comforting coming from Sam, not at all like the Latin she had had to learn during law school.

The woman who less than forty-eight hours earlier had shown her so much compassion; the woman whose words had reached deep into her heart, now showed no emotion at all. Casey really didn't know what to think about it, about her.

Unbeknownst to Casey she was not the only one whose mind was preoccupied with Samantha Carter. George Huang, despite his carefully professional expression, would have been hard pressed should someone ask him on the spot about his take on what was going on in the interview room.

Colonel Samantha Carter was unlike anyone else he had ever met, and with all of his experience with profiling from serial killers to your average abuser and dealing with victims and witnesses, that was saying a lot. He had asked a friend at the FBI to make some discreet inquiries about her after Captain Cragen had first told him about her and her theory. The service report he had been given was sketchy at best, not much more than where she had been stationed and when. All in all it seemed rather unremarkable except for the rather fast promotions and the impressive list of medals and commendation listed at the of her personnel file.

After having seen her the night before at the bar and reviewing the recording more than once since then he had come to the conclusion that she had to be involved in some kind of special ops. Her current, seemingly unaffected posture and her composure seemed to affirm this assumption but some things just did not fit. He could rationalize all he wanted, the cold hearted killer he suspected her to be would never have the pain he sometimes could see in her eyes, this pain that spoke of a loss too profound to ever get over it.

No, it didn't make any sense, especially when he also took the one thing into account on which he always had been able to rely, his gut instinct. From the moment he had first seen her, he had trusted her; he had wanted to trust her.

He almost gasped when for just the fraction of a heartbeat, when the killer looked down on the table, deep anguish flashed in her eyes. A moment later it was gone as if it had never been.

-x-x-x-

Elliot and John didn't stay long after Melinda had finished her phone call. Carolyn Lam had agreed with her that all they could do was to wait for the results of the next MRI scan and had told her to pay special attention to a certain area of Cassandra's brain that usually is dormant. It took Melinda some time to get her to admit that there once had been an incident during which Cassandra had shown activity in this part of the brain. Melinda was not sure if she should really believe that the other doctor had no idea what that did to Cassie or why it had apparently simply appeared and then disappeared again without further ado.

To keep busy Melinda rearranged the comforter and the pillows. She had to bend close to the young woman's face to reach the other side of the bed and saw that her eye movements were much too fast for someone in a coma. It looked more like a deep state of REM sleep.

So, Melinda pressed the call button and mentally prepared for a battle of wills with the arrogant doctor from earlier. She wanted to hook Cassandra to an EEG to monitor her brain functions and was sure that the man would tell her that at this point such caution was unwarranted and a waste of hospital resources.

To her surprise instead of Doctor Brown a young man entered who introduced himself as Doctor Anthony Martin. He agreed with her caution. Minutes later, Cassandra was all hooked up. Melinda and Doctor Martin stared at the monitor. Judging from that readout Cassie should not be in a coma. She should be wide awake and be engaged in an intricate game of chess or something equally intellectually challenging.

It didn't make any sense, and so they decided to have the second MRI not the next day but as soon as possible. The administrative staff in charge promised that they would be notified as soon as there would be a free spot but that it might take up to three hours.

Doctor Martin greeted the news with more than a hint of skepticism. Except for patients of the ER whom they couldn't refuse the staff at the MRI station was not known to accommodate requests that in their eyes messed up their schedule. So, he was more than surprised when less than one hour later they were called down for the scan. He was even more surprised when the results arrived only twenty minutes after Cassandra's bed had been rolled back into the room, accompanied by a lab tech.

"Doctor Martin?" The middle aged woman asked.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"I have the MRI results but I'm afraid, we'll have to do it again. The pictures are worthless. There must be something wrong with our machine."

"Worthless? In what way?" Melinda asked.

"See for yourself," The technician said and held the picture up. "The swelling is still clearly visible but there's a clouded area, here. Some sort of shadow or something. We're very sorry. We already called technical support and will redo the scan as soon as possible. I'm very sorry."

"Thank you for telling us so fast," Melinda said. "Could you please leave the scans here? I want to compare the extent of the swelling. There should be at least some difference."

"Of course, Doctor…"

"Doctor Warner, I'm Miss Fraiser's physician."

"Of course, Doctor Warner, we already made copies for the support tech. We'll call you as soon as we know more," the woman said with obvious relief and left.

Melinda held the pictures up against the balcony window but the afternoon sun made it difficult to see clearly.

"No need to get wrinkles by squinting your eyes. We have a portable view screen. I'll go and get it," Doctor Martin said.

When he returned with the unit on a rolling table they immediately bent over it and studied every minute detail of the pictures. At first glance it didn't look as if the swelling had gone down at all, and Melinda asked herself if it wouldn't be better to alleviate the cranial pressure. Then Doctor Martin found a small area, right where the shadowed part began where the swelling had indeed receded. At even closer inspection it turned out that all around the darkened, or rather obscured area the swelling had receded. It was not much, less than one millimeter but it was a beginning. What the pictures didn't show were signs of REM activity.

"I don't get it. With what we see here she should not be dreaming," Doctor Martin said.

"The activity might be under the area we can't see. For the moment we'll wait. There's at least some progress and from where the swelling is located I don't think that there's a danger of permanent damage," Melinda answered.

"Yes, the human brain is surprisingly sturdy, given its complexity and yet extremely fragile. I also think that we can afford to wait for another twenty-four or even forty-eight hours before we'll have to think about more invasive measures. Would you mind if I checked on Detective Benson? Doctor Brown made it clear that the patients in 314 should get the best possible care."

"I don't mind, but you should ask her. She woke up a couple of minutes ago," Melinda answered with a smile. She liked the young doctor, he reminded her of a time when her view of the world had not yet been tainted by violence and bloodshed, though she suspected that the arrogant older doctor had not given over the care for Olivia and Cassandra to him to do him a favor.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	13. Chapter 13: Waking Up

**CH 13: Waking up**

When Sam returned to the hospital it was way past dinner time. She had had nothing to eat since morning, but even thinking of food made her slightly queasy. That was one of the reasons why she had refused the invitation of Special Agent Hotchner to join him and his colleague. David Rossi whose misgivings about her participation had been more than obvious seemed even mutely excited at the prospect of speaking about what he called 'the interview'. For Sam it would be too soon if she never would have to speak about what she had been forced, no, to what she had forced herself to listen to.

It had been a horrid but to a certain extent textbook case of the genesis of a serial killer. Young Addison David Williamson, the son of a Episcopalian minister and an utterly unremarkable housewife, had started his 'career' by teaching the pets of the household and then of the whole neighborhood how to behave. Most of them didn't survive the lessons…

From there he had progressed to abusing his classmates and later his girlfriends, trying to mould them into his image of a good, subservient Christian woman, just like his mother had been. He soon became obsessed with the thought to save the souls of all women by teaching them how to behave properly; and his lessons had been much more widespread than Sam and the BAU had initially thought.

Williamson had talked for hours and had described every single detail of his crimes – and more than once Sam had had a hard time to force down the bile rising up. All this suffering to satisfy the religious delusions of one man, and he wasn't even possessed by a Goa'uld.

Sam shock herself out of those futile thoughts and took the stairs up to Cassie's floor to get rid of some of the tension. No, she really didn't want to think about him. She began to take the stairs two at a time and before she knew it she had not only passed the door to the third floor but reached the door to the helicopter pad on the roof of the twelve-stories-building.

Reluctant to simply turn around she opened it. She saw a security mechanism and propped the heavy door open to avoid locking herself out. Despite the fact that they were in the middle of the city it was calm up here, and she stepped out to inhale the night air that she had to admit smelled and tasted nothing like the clean, fresh air of Atlantis. She turned around and faced in the direction of Atlantis though rationally she was well aware that not even the strongest telescope in the city would be able to reach as far as the Pegasus galaxy.

She closed her eyes and let the distant sound of the traffic below wash over her. With sudden clarity she knew that she had to put his words behind her if she didn't want to be haunted by him for the rest of her life. Her blasted memory which had only gotten better since 'the accident' as Rodney called it, her memory would not allow her to ever forget his words or him but she could put a filter on it, strip it from its emotional content, just as she had done with Jolinar's memories.

So, she sat cross-legged on the roof and closed her eyes. She now consciously replayed her conversation with Williamson in what can only be called fast-forward. The atrocities he calmly had described changed from lively colors to a faded black and white, except for what he had said about Cassie. Sam knew that only would go away when the young woman opened her eyes, and even then it would take time and she would have to watch herself to make sure that she would not smother Cassie with her attention and over protectiveness.

Sam felt eyes on her back and she slowly stood up and dusted off her jeans. With the bright light coming from the open elevator doors she didn't recognize the person. So, she waited. The elevator doors closed and the person walked towards her.

"Sam? Colonel Carter?" Alex asked tentatively.

"You shouldn't be up here in the middle of the night, Alex. It's too dangerous," Sam answered distractedly.

"Says who? You were sitting with your back to the door, lost in thought and open for an attack," Alex said with a mocking smile. "By the way, what are you doing here? Don Cragen called about an hour ago that you would be over soon."

"It was one of those days…" Sam didn't finish her statement but instead found herself embraced in a bear hug that seemed to last an eternity and definitively not long enough.

"Thank you, Alex."

"You looked like you needed it, Sam. So, do you want to tell me about it or is it something we all should hear?" Alex asked.

"The later. And to give your question back: What are you doing up here, Bureau Chief Alexandra Cabot?"

"Casey Novak came by to take Olivia's statement. So, I decided to get some fresh air but I didn't want to subject myself to the fumes of all those doctors and nurses out for their cigarette break. And about my job, I don't think that I'll be Bureau Chief for much longer."

"Why? What happened?"

"Nothing, yet, but I know how to read between the lines, and Arthur at the moment is not happy with me, not at all."

"That's Arthur Branch, the DA, right?" Sam asked and Alex nodded. "Why? Has it anything to do with me, with the document you signed for me?"

Sam saw a slight flicker in the pair of blue eyes facing her, "No, nothing to do with you, Sam. He's angry with me because I refused to come into the office today. I was on the phone with my P.A. and two of the junior ADAs came by with the most pressing things for me to do, so, there was not too much backlog, but he's still not happy, especially since he knows why I'm not coming in. And I won't before I'm sure that Olivia will be alright."

"Mister Branch does not like her, right?"

"That could be the understatement of the year. They never hit it off. From the beginning, long before I had to leave, he feared that even a close friendship with another woman would hurt my career. And when he found out about my relationship with Olivia, he was positively livid. He threatened that he would fire me if we didn't keep it under wraps, and lectured me about the dangers every chance he got."

"But he has yet to understand that for you Olivia is far more important than your career, right?" Sam asked.

"Before I was forced into witness protection I was alright with taking every precaution necessary to keep the knowledge of the true nature of our relationship to a selected few. For everyone else we were just close friends who happen to be working together."

Been there, done that, thought Sam wistfully.

"When I had to leave again after the Connor's trial I thought that I would never see her again, and then back in New York I thought that she no longer wanted anything to do with me, but now that I have another chance… He doesn't know yet that my priorities have changed. Don't get me wrong, I still love being a prosecutor, and one day I'd like to sit in the big chair but I'm no longer willing to give up everything else to achieve it."

Now, Sam gave Alex a short, heartfelt hug, "Hold on to your second chance, Alex. Not many are as lucky."

A thousand questions rushed through Alex' mind at that but she stopped herself at the raw pain she saw in the other woman's eyes, "Let's go back down. Casey Novak and Olivia should be finished about now."

-x-x-x-

Melinda, Casey and Olivia were chatting when Sam and Alex joined them. For a few minutes they talked as if they all had been friends for years. Then Casey said that she had to go and Sam followed her out.

"Cas…, Miss Novak, I heard that your DA is making trouble for Alex. How much of that is my fault?"

"Let's stay with Casey, please, Sam. I honestly don't know. It probably has more to do with her refusal to return to work today, but I'll keep my ears open and let you know what I find out," Casey answered.

"Thank you, Casey. How are you doing?"

"Better, I think; still embarrassed about getting drunk in the first place. But now that I have seen them together I know that Olivia belongs to her."

They walked along the corridor and took a seat in a small visitor's lounge with surprisingly comfortable seats.

"You know, before Alex' dea… before Alex had to go into witness protection I've only known her by reputation. We never worked a case together and we also didn't belong to the same social circles. She was widely known as the Ice Princess, the princess-part becoming more and more obvious when it became clear that Arthur Branch was grooming her as his successor. Then there were rumors that she had an affair with one of her detectives, and soon there was talk about her and Olivia, whom I had not yet met then. Everyone thought that even if it were true that it could only be a fling because Alex was too much of a political animal to risk her chances at the big chair over something as human as a relationship. They always were completely professional at work; so, rumors were all there was."

"And then Alex disappeared, you were assigned to the one-six and fell in love with Olivia," Sam said to keep her talking.

"Who wouldn't? She's beautiful, passionate, dedicated, smart, almost emphatic when victims are concerned. But during the more than three years we've been working together, I've never seen her as alive as she's now. All the time I spent daydreaming about us, her eyes lightning up with love for me played a prominent role… Today I saw her eyes shining brightly, and I saw their shimmer reflected in the eyes of a woman I always thought had no feelings at all. I now know that they belong to each other, and that I judged Alex too harshly. It's Alex who makes Olivia's eyes shine."

Years ago, fortified by Janet's love Sam had learned how to read other people, something she never had been able to do before, and she had learned to offer comfort and a willing ear though she rarely opened up to other people herself, only to friends and family.

After Janet's death she had tried to return into the shell out if which the small spitfire of a doctor had patiently dug her, screaming and kicking sometimes; and for some time her work had been enough, especially when she had been able to bury herself in projects of her choosing at Area 51, far from the all too achingly familiar corridors of Stargate Command.

With her return to Cheyenne Mountain because of the developing Ori threat, however, some of Janet's infirmary staff and quite a few of the engineers and scientists had started to come to her with their problems and tribulations, not because she had such a warm and fuzzy way, in fact her comments often were less compassionate than acerbic, but as one of them had put it, 'with Doctor Fraiser gone, you are the next best thing, Colonel Carter, because if push comes to shove you will always first ask yourself: what would Janet have done'? As a compliment it was an at least three-edged dagger, but the man had been spot on; and over time she had even gained some confidence in her ability to give advice and comfort to others, at least with things that did not hit too close to home.

And now Sam found herself sitting next to Casey with her arm around the younger woman's shoulders, dealing with something that somehow did just that; it hit too close to home, way too close.

'Yes, she does, and it's mutual. A love like theirs it very rare and usually we get only one chance at it.' That's what she wanted to say, but it would have opened her up to too many questions she was not ready to answer and to too many memories she was not willing to relive.

So, instead Sam asked softly, "Do you resent them for what they are about to reclaim, Casey?"

Casey turned her head and looked at her with a hint of tears clinging in her eyes; then, surprisingly, she smiled.

"You have Olivia's eyes, do you know that?" At the surprise on Sam's face she added, "Oh, not the color, the expression, but to answer your question, no, I don't resent them, I even don't begrudge them their re-found happiness, at least not since I saw them together. It doesn't even hurt as much as it did earlier today, though I fear it will take some time before I'll be able to smile in their company and mean it."

As only comment Sam squeezed Casey's shoulders since there was nothing more to say. After a while she said, "I'll be there if you want to talk."

"Thank you, Sam, I will, and now I will call it a day and have a long nice soak in my bathtub. Call me if you, Cassandra or Olivia need anything."

Sam nodded, escorted her silently downstairs and gave her a hug before she jumped into a cab.

-x-x-x-

Back in the room Olivia had once again fallen asleep but both Alex and Melinda assured Sam that she was progressing nicely and could begin physical therapy the next day. Melinda, however, refused to discuss Cassie's status or let her even have a look at her chart before she had eaten a rather large sandwich Munch had dropped of earlier. Sam agreed under the condition that they filled her in on what had happened at the hospital during her absence. The voices were just loud enough to wake up Olivia.

"So, basically, Olivia, you spent most of the day sleeping," Sam said between bites.

"Liv, please, close friends call me Liv or Livia, and though you're basically right I was awake for the funniest parts of the day. At one point two of Alex' ADAs came in with their arms full of case files, and the whole time she was dissecting the logic of their arguments all they could do was stare at her hand that was still holding mine. I thought their eyes would bug out, especially of the young man."

"You're exaggerating, Liv. I guess your perception was clouded by the painkillers," Alex replied with a scolding voice that still could not dim the smile in her eyes.

Olivia pulled Alex' hand to her lips and kissed its back, but was not yet ready to stop the teasing, "You're right, my Lexi, compared to the other incident I witnessed it was only mildly amusing. You see, Sam, Alex got a phone call from the office. It was a guy named Jim Steele, he's the senior ADA of the bureau, in theory he's her second in command, so to speak. He was complaining that she had refused a plea bargain with a murderer and she told him to get his overpaid brain cells in gear and get his investigators to pull their heads out of their asses and find the proof they needed. And just when she had started in on this, her mother came in. It was hilarious."

"Let me guess: Alexandra Caroline Cabot, I swear I should wash out this gutter mouth of yours with soap," Sam said laughing.

"Mrs. Cabot used other words but it boiled down to something similar," Melinda said. "What I found even better was that though Alex blushed nicely the reprimand in itself fizzled out because a tall grey-haired gentleman came in right after her, took Alex in a bear-hug and swirled her around as if she were a five-year-old, and from the way he later hugged Olivia I'm sure that she would have gotten the same treatment had she not been in a hospital bed."

Another slight blush colored Alex' face at Melinda's words but she still filled Sam in on who this 'Uncle Harry' was.

Olivia added, "He was there when we told Alex' family about us. He was the only one who didn't even blink an eye and he never was happy about the fact that we tried to keep our relationship quiet. He said that love was love and everything else be damned. That of course didn't keep him from grilling me about my intentions towards Alex and telling me that there would be no place to hide for me if I ever hurt her."

Alex then added a story about a Easter Dinner at the Hamptons with extended family in the second year of their time together, a few months before Velez. One of the younger family members had taken offence at the way Alex and Olivia interacted and he had stepped in like a knight in shining armor, declaring that anyone who had anything to say against them should feel free to take it up with him – unsurprisingly no one did.

-x-x-x-

After Sam had finished her sandwich and soda Melinda finally filled her in on Cassie's status and the only partially usable MRI.

Sam blanched visibly and asked, "Did you already sent the new MRI to Carolyn Lam?"

"No, I wanted to wait 'til tomorrow, 'til the MRI has been repaired. The pictures were good enough to see that the swelling is going down, though slower than I had expected, so, there was no need."

"That's good," Sam answered absently. It was a testament to her innate trust in the women in room that she continued to think aloud while pacing the whole length of the room. "It will give us some time, at least until they figure out that their MRI is not defect but that the problem comes from Cassie's brain."

"What do you mean, her brain? Has this anything to do with her blood condition?" Melinda asked, her doctor's instincts on high alert.

Sam stopped in mid-step, just becoming aware of the others' presence. She looked first at Melinda and then at Alex and Olivia and made a decision. Suddenly everything seemed easy and straightforward.

"Yes and no. I know that I promised you an explanation for what happened last night, Mel, and what you're about to see will more than likely give you even more questions, but now is not the time for explanations. You will get them, all of you, probably more than you ever wanted to know. For now, however, I will need your help."

"What do you need, Sam?" Alex asked.

"I need to see the MRI results, both sets, at least two hours of uninterrupted time and all of you not to freak out."

"Now, you got my attention, Sam," Olivia said.

"Alright, Sam, I'll take care of the view screen for the MRI pictures, or would you prefer to have it on your laptop?" Melinda asked before Sam had a chance to answer Olivia. "I'll also make sure that we're not disturbed the next few hours. But before I can let you do anything, I'll at least need to know what you intent to do."

"Thank you, Mel. The laptop might be better. Alex, I'll tell you what to do and then you'll be able to zoom in on certain areas if I'll need it. Oh, and Mel, could you bring a wheelchair for Olivia before her curiosity lets her fall out of bed."

Sam programmed the medical scanner Jennifer Keller had given to her to monitor Cassie's vitals and explained to Olivia to which of the readings she should pay special attention.

A couple of minutes later Melinda was back with a wheelchair and the news that they would not be disturbed for the rest of the night. She had told the head nurse that she would stay the night to monitor the patients, and surprisingly the woman accepted her words at face value. She still got told to press the call button should they need anything and the medical examiner promised to do so.

"Holy Hannah, Mel, I didn't even think of your family? Won't they miss you?" Sam suddenly said.

"Don't worry, Sam, they know that I'm busy helping a friend. Actually I think that my daughter enjoys having her father to herself for a bit. So, what do you want to do?"

"I'll reduce the swelling in Cassie's brain to wake her up," Sam answered.

"Like you saved me, by putting your hands on her?" Olivia asked. "I can't believe I just said that. I never believed in psychics or such, but I also can't deny my memories of that night."

"I'm not a psychic, Livia. I just have certain abilities for which we're still trying to find a rational explanation. And no, I can't heal Cassie like I did with your leg. Her blood condition makes that impossible; but there's another way." Sam pulled the healing device out of her bag. "With this."

The other three women stared at her with evident confusion. What she held in her hand looked more like some strange and impractical bracelet than anything else.

"I can hear your brains shifting into overdrive, but the hospital is really not the place to give you all the explanation I promised. I'd like to be in a more private place for that." Sam said pleadingly.

"Alright, Sam. So, Alex will take charge of the laptop and Olivia will monitor Cassie's vitals with this thing. What do you want me to do?"

"You will monitor me, Mel. This will be harder than healing Olivia's femoral artery. By the way, I'll finish that job as soon as they let you get out of here, Livia. The EMTs came too early to go all the way. And when I'm done you can use the medical leave to spent time with Alex instead of sweating through physical therapy."

"What do you mean? You could have healed her completely? Why didn't you? Do you enjoy…." Alex blurted out and only Olivia's finger on her lips stopped her from letting it develop into a real tantrum.

"I'm sure Sam had a very good reason for that," Olivia said softly and held Alex furious blue eyes.

"One word, plausibility. The EMTs and the ER staff catalogued Olivia's injuries. Don't you think that it would raise all kinds of questions should she be able to walk around freely only hours after she had been diagnosed with muscle damage from a bullet wound, muscle damage that should necessitate weeks of physical therapy to overcome completely?"

"You're right, Sam, I apologize. Should it come out that you can really heal people, you would end up as the main exhibit in every tabloid in the world and from your neighbor's scraped knee to their grandmother's dementia everyone would want to be healed by you," Alex conceded.

"Not to speak about the scientists who would try to turn you inside out to get to the bottom of your abilities. They would at the least hook you up to any kind of surveillance equipment they could find and then some," Melinda added.

"I know, Mel, and I'm thankful that you understand. The second thing I want you to do is to stop me if I go too far. To make this work I have to act on a rational as well as on an instinctual level. My instincts, however, tell me to heal Cassie completely, her broken leg, the bruises, the broken ribs, the cuts, everything. And for the same reason I didn't yet heal Olivia I can't heal her all the way," Sam said.

"I understand; it would make too many waves and this case will get enough publicity as it is. How do I recognize when it's time to stop you and how do I do that?" Melinda asked.

"When I start a golden light will come from this device," Sam explained while she put the healing device on her right hand. "It will shine on the body part I'm healing. If the light or my hand start to move, stop me. It might be enough to call my name or shake me, but it could also be that you have to knock me out."

-x-x-x-

Sam had looked through both sets of MRI slides and put a virtual chess board grid on the view screen to make it easier for Alex to find the parts she wanted to zoom in on. She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed to whoever was listening that she really had learned enough from Vala to pull this off. Yes, in the past she had healed major staff wounds, infections and other things. By channeling her own energy through the device she even had helped Daniel to recover from the aftermath of housing Merlin's knowledge; but she never had worked directly on a brain. And since her failure at healing the archaeologist from the radiation poisoning he got on Kelowna almost five years ago, she never had been as anxious about using the healing device as she was now.

So, she took a few calming breaths and was pleasantly surprised when her body obediently began to relax.

Relaxing and meditation was something that had gotten much easier since 'the accident', or was it simply the fact that at any given moment in Atlantis, even in the midst of a crisis, she was less tense than she had been in the familiar corridors of Cheyenne Mountain ever since Janet's death? Whatever it was, now was not the time to think about it, she resolutely decided.

Sam reopened her eyes and began to focus on the task at hand. She sat down at the side of Cassie's bed and stretched her hand out. It hovered over the young unconscious woman's forehead. Her eyes were focused on the screen of the laptop, and suddenly a faint golden light emanated from the strange device Sam had put on her hand.

At first it looked like nothing more than a line in a notebook but that quickly changed; the line grew thicker and stronger with every heartbeat. Sam's hand moved minutely and the golden beam shifted from the centre of Cassie's forehead to the crown of her head. Her eyes still were focused on the view screen of the laptop, and she soon started to call out instructions to Alex: E-5, F-6, F-7….

"More, higher, I need a higher resolution. Good. Stay there. More to the right, G-5, yes, magnify that. More. Good, some more to the right, on the line between G-5 and G-6. Yes, that's it. Keep it there."

Sam's instructions continued for another fifteen minutes, getting graduately more detailed. Then she fell silent but didn't move a muscle. Her eyes still were pinpointed on the view screen of the laptop.

Melinda was fascinated by the look of utter concentration on Sam's face and the golden glow coming from the strange contraption in her hand. When Sam had healed Olivia's leg the light had been coming from within her and though Melinda had never seen something like it before it still had left her with the impression of it being something completely natural.

What she witnessed now, however, was different somehow. She couldn't really put her fingers on it especially since the first two definitions coming to mind were rather contradictory. It looked less natural than what Sam had done before and yet strangely primeval, fascinating and still repulsive.

Alex voice shock Melinda out of her musings, "Melinda, Sam, she's bleeding from the nose."

Two lines of blood were just reaching Sam's chin and Melinda instinctively grabbed the hand holding the strange device and used it to pull her friend from the bed. For a few seconds the golden light hit the floor and then fizzled out. Sam seemed to wake up from some kind of trance and visibly needed some time to re-orient herself. When she spoke her voice sounded as if she were not quite with them just yet.

"Why did you stop me? I wasn't finished."

Melinda handed Sam a paper cloth. "Wipe under your nose and over your mouth, Sam. You were bleeding."

Sam looked at the smear of red on the cloth. She remembered one of Vala's early lessons about using the healing device.

"It heals by transferring energy from the body of the healer to the body of the one healed. It usually uses excess energy we all have. But sometimes a healing requires more than that and then the device starts to drain the healer. Never allow that to happen, Sam, or you might come to a point where you no longer can stop yourself and it will drain you of all of your energy and you will be dead."

"That does not sound like something your typical snakehead would even think of using. From what I've read they're not big on self-sacrifice," Carolyn Lam, then still a newcomer to the SGC, remarked in her typical deadpan manner.

"From what Malek told me treating only their own kind is much less draining than treating normal humans. That's why I was able to heal Cronos without having any experience but couldn't help Daniel years later."

But Cassie had naqadah in her blood and she had the protein marker. So, why had she come to the brink of losing control?, Sam asked herself.

"Sam, are you alright?" Melinda asked.

"Yes, Mel, thank you. You stopped me in time. Using this thing takes a lot out of a body. And now let's see if it was enough to wake Cassie up."

Sam took the healing device off and reseated herself at the edge of Cassie's bed. She put her right hand gently on the young woman's left cheek and called her name, softly at first and then loud enough to possibly be heard on the corridor but nothing happened.

She changed tactics, bent down and whispered in Cassie's ear, "Cassandra Fraiser, wake up or you'll miss all the fun with Uncle Jack and the guys."

Sam came back up and saw Cassie's eyes flutter for a moment and open. Green-brown eyes looked at her and a hoarse voice whispered, "There's no fish in his pond and he says being called uncle makes him feel old."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	14. Chapter 14: Reconnecting

**CH14: Reconnecting**

Sam woke from sunrays dancing across her face. She stretched instinctively and immediately regretted it when her whole body protested the abuse to her muscles and bones from sleeping in a chair that definitively had not been designed to be slept in, not for a few hours and certainly not two nights in a row. She blinked her eyes open and heaved herself out of the chair. She could feel her joints cracking and heard a soft chuckle coming from the bed.

Sam looked over into Cassie's smiling face, "I'm so glad that you're awake, kiddo."

"I missed it." Cassie replied.

"You missed what?" Sam asked.

"You calling me 'kiddo', Sam. You haven't done that since Mom died."

"I haven't called you that since you got your driver's license and told me that you no longer were a kid, or was it the day you first went out with Dominic?" Sam teased.

"How long will you keep reminding me of that error in judgment? Besides, you're the one with the eidetic memory. You should know better than I."

"Probably 'til the rest of your life or 'til you give me better ammunition, but you're right, Cass, I remember when it was. It was on the day you first borrowed my car to go to the movies with your friends, some Pitt Brett flic or the other." Sam answered, happy beyond expression that she once again was able to banter with her daughter.

"That's Brad Pitt, Sam, and he was cute, then. And on that note, look at them. They're almost as cute as you and Mom."

Sam looked over to the other bed where Olivia and Alex were snuggled up in each other's arms. Cassie was right, they were cute together, they belonged together in sleep even more than when awake. It brought a wistful smile to Sam's face, an expression Cassandra recognized all too well.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I shouldn't have brought that up."

"It's alright, Cassie. I'll always miss Janet, but you can talk about her. I will always love your mom, but that does not mean that I begrudge anyone else their happiness, and these two deserve it. The first day I met Olivia I could see the loss in her eyes, but now they have a new shine or perhaps they have their old shine back." Sam suddenly fell silent.

"Sounds like a long, interesting story, but that can wait. Fill me in on what I missed, please." Cassie studied Sam's face. "I know you want to know what happened that night and later, but I'm not ready."

"I understand, Cass, I'll keep the police and the DA off your back for as long as I can but you'll still have to give your statement to the police and sooner or later you'll have to testify in court and speak to a psychologist," Sam said.

"I know, Mum, and I'm okay with it, as long as it's not MacKenzie; that guy gives me the creeps, always did. For the moment I just don't want to think about it. I need you to take my mind off things for now," Cassie said with a pleading expression in her eyes.

"Telling you about my side of what happened might not be the best way to do that, Cass, but if you really want it I'll fill you in the best I can."

Cassie nodded and then said, "Please, Mum, it might help me to put things in perspective, but could you hold my hand?"

"Of course, sweetheart."

"And please, don't sugar coat things. I'm not twelve any more, Mum. I can take it," Cassandra said.

"That's the third time you called me 'Mum'!" Sam said softly.

"That's how I've always thought about you, Sam, but you always seemed uncomfortable with it. When I was older I spoke with Mom and she explained that since you couldn't take me yourself, you wanted me to accept her completely as my new mother and that you felt it would take away from her."

"Janet knew me very well. She was right. I…"

Cassie stopped Sam's admission by putting a finger on her own mouth. "Stop it, Sam. I love both of you. I always did, from the beginning. You always belonged together. Now, please tell me what happened. You shouldn't even be here but out there in the Pegasus galaxy. Please, don't tell me that you got yourself into trouble over me."

"Trouble is such a relative word, Cassie. I don't care about that. Do you really think I would? Even if I still were as ambitious as I once was, I never would choose my career over your life and your safety. I'm sorry that I was too late to keep them from hurting you," Sam replied.

"There was nothing you could have done. You were thousands of light years away. You found me before that nutcase could kill me. You have no reason to feel guilty, Mum. And just for the record: of course I know that you never would even have needed a second to think about it. I know that Mom and I were always your priority. Please, I need to know."

So, Sam told Cassie about the encrypted message from Daniel and ended with Cassandra waking up late last evening. The whole time Cassie didn't even try to interrupt her, but every now and again she pressed Sam's hand as if to comfort her though in Sam's eyes she should be the one to do the comforting.

When she had finished, the first question Cassie asked really surprised Sam, "You really had to listen to this freak tell you about…?"

"No one forced me to listen to him, Cass. He refused to talk to anyone else. I was the best choice," Sam answered.

"But Sam, why did you do this to yourself? I know you, you'll never forget even a single of his words or his expressions."

"You always were too worried about me, Cassie. I took some time to put it into perspective before I returned here. I'll be alright."

"Mum, please don't play this down. You always tried to do this to me, you and Mom and the guys, and Uncle George, but I quickly learned how to listen and how to use the coding skills you taught me. I know you only wanted to protect me but I still worried. I saw the wounds and the bruises and I heard the nightmares. Knowing what really happened helped me to cope."

Sam pulled Cassandra in her arms and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, kiddo. I promise, from now on I'll keep you up to date, no more sugar-coating. Why did you never tell me?"

"I wanted to, more than once, but when I finally got up the nerve to tell you that I used what you taught me to snoop in SGC files, there was the incident with Nirrti and suddenly I understood why you all wanted to protect me by keeping most of the details quiet. You wanted me to grow up as a normal kid and not burden me with knowledge not appropriate for my age."

"When did you get so wise, Cass?" Sam asked with a smile.

"I had many good teachers and two tough examples to live up to, Sam, you and Mom, and from what I've heard just now you still give everyone else a run for their money, the FBI and NYPD. Without you I probably would have become another number in this religious nutcase's line of victims yet to come."

Cassie shivered involuntarily and Sam changed her seat on the edge of the bed to take her protectively in her arms. "It will be alright, sweetheart, he will never get the chance to hurt anyone else; not him and not those other guys."

"Keep holding me, Sam, please! I hurt," Cassie whispered.

"I will, for as long as you want me to. It's okay to hurt, Cassie-baby. You're very brave." Sam felt how Cassandra tried to hold in her sobs, "It's okay to cry, Cass. It does not make you any less brave. Do you know how many times I cried in your Mom's arms after a mission gone wrong? I'll hold you. I love you, Cassie. It's alright."

Sam continued to whisper soothing words and the dam broke. Cassie started to cry; first it were single sobs, like loud hick-ups and only then the tears came. Her arms sneaked around Cassie's waist. She tried not to aggravate her broken and bruised ribs but Sam felt that the young woman needed the contact.

Sam was completely focused on Cassie and though she heard the people in the other bed wake up and move she didn't even turn her head. She heard Alex help Olivia in the wheelchair and the door snapped shut behind them.

-x-x-x-

"Do you think Cassandra will be okay?" Alex asked.

"From what we overheard I got the impression that Cassandra is a very strong young woman. It will take time and counseling but yes, I think she will be alright."

"And will you be, Liv?"

"All considering, yes. We got the perps, Cassandra is alive, my leg will heal, I have you back. If getting shot is the prize to pay for that, I'd do it again."

"I'd rather you not, Liv," Alex answered.

Before Olivia had a chance to act on her urge to kiss the blonde, they heard foot steps coming along the corridor. They turned around and saw Doctor Martin and two nurses, obviously on their way to do their morning rounds.

"Doctor Martin, shouldn't you be off duty by now?" Olivia asked.

"I have the day shift this week, but you, Detective Benson, you should be in bed. You're just starting to get over the extreme blood loss you suffered. Your body needs more time to heal."

"I'm just sitting in a wheelchair, Doctor. It's not more strenuous than sitting in bed," Olivia protested.

"Don't play this down, Detective, according to the ER report you lost two thirds of your blood. You just have to take it easy for a while, and that's not counting the gun shot wounds to your side and leg," he said soberly.

"I promise, I'll return to bed soon, Doctor, and you can check me out to your heart's content. It's just that Cassandra Fraiser woke up earlier this morning. We wanted to give her and her mother some time alone," Olivia said.

"I understand. I'll cut you a deal, Detective, I'll start my rounds at the other end of the floor. That should give them another two hours, but that's the best I can do. And since you're already up, why don't the two of you go down to the cafeteria and get some breakfast? But no coffee for you, Detective Benson, herbal tea, nothing stronger."

"I'll see to it, Doctor Martin. And thank you for your understanding."

"You're welcome, Miss Cabot."

-x-x-x-

When Alex pushed the wheelchair out of the elevator Doctor Martin and the nurses were just one door from their room. The two women found Cassie deep asleep and heard the sound of running water coming from the small bathroom. When Sam returned a couple of minutes later she was wearing faded jeans and a black regulation T-shirt. Her long hair was open and fell over her shoulders. It was still slightly damp from the shower.

"Good morning, Sam. We brought coffee from the cafeteria. It's surprisingly good. Doctor Martin should be here any minute now, he needs to check Cassandra and Olivia out," Alex said.

"Good morning to you, too. Coffee sounds good. I'm sorry for having driven you out of the room earlier."

"Nothing to apologize for, Sam. You needed the time together. Is Cassandra feeling any better?" Olivia asked.

Sam didn't answer but looked at the peacefully sleeping face of her daughter, "I hope so. She has been through so much in her life. This should never have happened, especially not to her. I should have protected her."

"Mum, don't. You protected me when it really counted," Cassandra said and tried to stand up.

"No, Cass, stay put. Your leg is broken in two places and I can't do anything about it as long as you're in the hospital," Sam said.

"I'll stop if you do too, Sam. What happened to me was not your fault and I know you will help me to cope with it. We'll get through this like we always do. Remember, we're very brave. Stop, blaming yourself, or do I have to call Uncle Jack to make it an order?"

Sam laughed at that, "You're one of a kind, kiddo. And technically Jack O'Neill no longer is my commanding officer."

"As Uncle Jack would say: fer crying out loud, Carter, cut the bullshit! And just for the record, you may be the youngest female full-bird in the history of the Air Force, but he's still a General; so, you're thoroughly outranked," Cassie said in a fairly credible imitation of Jack's speech pattern.

"You're good, Cassie, and Jack probably will still give me orders even when he's already retired for good," Sam answered and turned around when she heard the door open. "That's your doctor, Cass, Doctor Anthony Martin. Doctor Martin, may I introduce, Cassandra Fraiser, my daughter."

Doctor Martin performed a neurological exam on Cassandra and though he couldn't find a logical explanation for what had woken her up he seemed pleased with the results. He still wanted to have another MRI to make sure that the swelling really had gone down sufficiently and would not need close monitoring anymore.

The check-up on Olivia yielded similar positive results. Doctor Martin was confident that they could get started with physical therapy as soon as the next day but insisted on putting her on an IV to alleviate the blood loss. Olivia wanted to refuse but Alex' warning and worried eyes held her back; and she acquiesced quietly.

-x-x-x-

As soon as the new line was in and Doctor Martin and the nurse had left Sam called Daniel and handed Cassie the phone. Predictably Daniel wanted to know how she was but when she simply said that she would be alright 'in time', he quickly changed the subject and they talked about more innocuous things.

After about ten minutes Sam took the Blackberry back because Daniel had asked to speak with her, "Jack will be thrilled to hear that Cassie woke up, with some help I guess."

Sam just grunted but that was response enough.

"Listen, Sam, Jack wants you to write a report, well, two actually. The first should be as close to the truth as possible without mentioning what you told us in the van, the second should be fit for public consumption."

"I understand, Daniel, no Gate, no Atlantis. Did he tell you when he needed them?"

"You can take your time, Sam. He only said that he might need them some day. He's rather tight-lipped on the phone. He only told me that the spokesman of the IOC has asked for an appointment with the Joint Chiefs. Would there be any way to get word of your absence from Atlantis to Earth before the scheduled contact on Sunday?"

"With or without the Gate?" Sam asked.

"Without. General Landry is on our side."

"Then there's only one way, the Daedalus. They left for Earth just a day before I did. Then they were still in communication's range. If they made good speed they should have arrived late last night."

"Everyone knows that Colonel Caldwell has a crush on you, Sam. He would never rat you out to the IOC," Daniel said.

"I was not thinking about the colonel, Daniel, but it's a big crew, and some of them could well be on the payroll of the IOC at the side. Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to the river."

"I'll keep you posted, Sam. Is there anything I can do for you at my end?"

"There's one thing, Daniel. It's just a hunch, but could you have a dress uniform sent over."

"No problem, Sam, I'll get to it right away. Take care of yourself and Cassie."

"Will do. Bye Daniel."

-x-x-x-

Sam was aware that the other three women in the room had at least listened to her part of the conversation and probably overheard some of his side. So, she put the Blackberry away and a smile on her face, a smile that didn't fool them.

"So," Olivia finally asked, "how much trouble are you in for leaving your base without permission?"

"Technically none. I took a leave of absence, and believe me I have enough leave piled up to take a month or two."

"Bah, two months wouldn't even put a dent in it. You had more than six when Mom died and since then you have taken only two days off, to get me settled at med-school."

Sam blushed slightly and shrugged her shoulders, "Be that as it may. No, the problem is not that I left, but the way I left. I have a very competent XO who could run the base on his own if he were so inclined. As the base commander it is well within my right to grant leave, even to myself. The problem is that I used military resources to come here and that I didn't have permission to do so. So, I easily could get court-marshaled for the unauthorized use of government property."

"So, you hitched a ride in a transport plane? There's nothing wrong about that," Alex said.

"Not exactly, but it's hard to explain without telling you all of it and as I already said I'd rather not do that in the hospital."

"So, what do you think could happen?" Alex insisted.

"Best case scenario, I'll get away with a reprimand. Worst case scenario, they'll send me to prison. In all probability they'll either let me resign my commission or I'll get a dishonorable discharge," Sam answered.

"What? They can't do that to you! You've given them your all since you were eighteen years old. You saved the world more times than they'll ever know. The Joint Chiefs would be out of their frigging minds if they'd go along with something like that. It's not damned fair," Cassie burst out and tried to get out of bed in her agitation.

"Language, kiddo! And don't worry. I'll be alright!"

"But Sam! You can't let them get away with that. They owe you."

"Cassie, please let it go. I can't afford to think like that. It would force me to think of the bad things that happened instead of the good. It would invalidate all the good things I got out of it: meeting your Mom, you joining our lives, all the people we saved over the years, the friends we made. No, Cassie, the Air Force doesn't owe me. I can take whatever they dish out," Sam said.

"But what about your career, Sam?" Olivia asked.

"Four years ago," Sam answered in a neutral voice but with sad eyes, "I would have told you that my career was very important to me and a look at my life would have shown you that I was making a lot of compromises not to endanger my standing in the Air Force, our standing in the Force. Then Janet was killed during a mission."

Sam fell silent and Cassie squirmed around in her bed to put her arms around her. "It's alright, sweetheart," she said but accepted the comfort.

Sam knew that she was talking to all of them but kept her eyes on Olivia, "After the numbness had worn off and some of the pain, I found that my career suddenly no longer was that important to me. And the most ironic thing about that is that since then I've been promoted twice. So, my career is the last thing I worry about."

Sam suddenly found herself under the scrutiny of eyes of almost the same blue as her own, "You might not care about your career any longer, Sam, but you care about what you're doing."

"And you would know that how?" Sam asked Alex.

"Because the only reason Olivia keeps doing what she's doing is because she cares about the victims and about making our city a little bit safer. It's why all of them at the one six do it."

"It's our job, Alex, that's all," Olivia said.

"That's bull, and you know it. Tell me, Miss I'm-just-doing-my-job, how many times has Lieutenant VanBuren tried to lure you over to homicide? How many offers of the FBI or the DEA have you refused?"

-x-x-x-

Before Olivia had a chance to answer or more likely change the subject, there was a knock on the door. Casey and George came in. The psychologist was carrying a metal case that housed the camera equipment they used to take the statement of witnesses unable to come to the precinct. Melinda was right behind him. The night before Sam had convinced her to go home and sleep in her own bet after Cassandra had woken up and she had checked her out.

"Sorry to interrupt," Casey said after she had introduced herself and the others to Cassandra. "We called the nurses' station and heard that you were awake, Miss Fraiser. We'd like to take your statement."

Alex saw how the two women on the other bed subtly changed position 'til Sam was holding Cassandra in a protective embrace. So, she asked, "Casey, do you really need Miss Fraiser's statement now? You should have more than enough for an indictment by now."

"We do, Alex, it's not about that. Miss Green's testimony was more than enough for that. Carl Kelles and the others were remanded without bail yesterday morning. Arthur wants this over with as soon as possible."

Casey then turned her attention back to Cassandra, "I know this is probably not a good time and if you think that you're not up to it, we will leave but it might get us the leverage we need to get Carl Kelles to cooperate."

"What?! You want to cut that bastard a deal?" Olivia and Sam burst out simultaneously.

"District Attorney Arthur Branch has ordered me to offer Mister Kelles fifteen to twenty-five in exchange for his testimony against the Slicer, against Williamson. CSU has not yet finished with the crime scene, but Arthur wants this done as soon as possible. He even threatened to give both cases to Kibre," Casey answered.

"Why? It's an SVU case, both of them are, Williamson and Kelles," Olivia said.

"I don't know, Olivia, but he made it clear that he expects his orders to be followed. I don't know what has gotten into him, but he's in an extremely bad mood, bad enough for his secretary to warn me to tread lightly. I know it's an election year, but that's more than six months from now. It can't be about that already. But whatever it is, I'll be damned if I let Kibre get her fingers on those cases, not again."

"In other words, you need the statement to placate Arthur and get him to hold still until we find more evidence; ideally a stash of video tapes showing Williamson at work," Melinda said. "Don't you think that's a bit callous?"

"I would have to take her statement sooner or later, anyway, Melinda, and as I said, Miss Fraiser, if you're not up to it, we won't do it."

"If you have everything on tape, why do you need me to testify at all?" Cassie asked.

"There's no tape showing what Kelles did to you, Miss Fraiser, we only have footage about Williamson. We also have the statements of Gwen Green and the other gang members, but as 'callous' as it may sound, nothing beats the testimony of a victim," Casey said. "But if it's really too hard for you to do now, I somehow will find a way around it. Arthur be damned."

"If we had the other tapes, would the District Attorney still insist on cutting Kelles a deal?" Sam asked.

"No, at least I don't think so. With more tapes, ideally one of a murder in our jurisdiction, we would have irrefutable proof of his guilt, even if he should recant his confession or try to go for an insanity plea," Casey said. "But he refuses to talk."

"He talked to me once. He might tell me what he refuses to tell anyone else," Sam said.

"With any other killer I'd say that it would be worth a try, but with Williamson I don't think that it will work," George said. "In his mind you are the witness sent by his god. He wouldn't understand if you were to ask about something as mundane as videotapes, Sam. Witnesses observe, they don't ask questions. CSU will find the tapes. They are physical proof of the work he did for his god, I doubt that he would let them far out of his reach."

George's words were greeted with silence. No one doubted his professional opinion, but it seemed that there was also nothing to be said to that.

"The cross," Sam suddenly burst out. "They're stashed in or close to the cross. The tapes are his offerings to his god."

"I'll call CSU and tell them to check it out," Melinda said. She didn't doubt her old friend's intuition for even a moment. "If they find them Cass… Miss Fraiser can take all the time she needs with her statement."

Melinda left the room to make her call and returned minutes later with news of their success. CSU found more than two dozen of DVD disks in a hidden compartment at the back of the wooden cross, neatly labeled with dates and names, - exactly what they had needed.

"That's great. It just might give us what we'll need, and it will give you more time, Miss Fraiser. I'd better go and see for myself," Casey said.

"I'll go with you," Melinda replied. "It might smooth the wheels of the machine. You know how CSU can be."

"Yes, they can be a pain, I know. I'd appreciate your help Melinda," Casey answered. She nodded her good-byes to the other participants of the room and turned towards the door.

"I'll give you the statement you want, Miss Novak, but let's do it now before I lose the courage," Cassandra suddenly said.

"Alright, the tapes can wait. I'm just as happy to let CSU do the first viewing," Casey answered.

"Are you sure that you're up to it, Cassie?" Sam asked.

"Just keep on holding me and I'll be fine, Sam," Cassandra answered.

"My friends and I were on the way to this other club. We should have taken a cab like the door woman offered, but we wanted some fresh air. A couple of blocks down Hudson Street there was this alley. Suddenly there were six men surrounding us…"

-x-x-x-x-x-


	15. Chapter 15: Missing

CH 15: Missing

Casey and the others left Sam and Cassandra alone after she had finished her story. She had not cried a single tear but everyone had been moved by what she had had to say.

"Will Cassandra be alright, George?" Olivia asked.

"Cassandra Fraiser is a remarkable young woman," George answered. "When she started to talk, she tried to distance herself from what happened, but later she let the pain in. Sam's presence allowed her to do that. She is sure of Sam's protection and trusts her completely. Without Sam she would have distanced herself from her pain and rationalized everything. Yes, Olivia, I'm sure that Cassandra will be alright in time. She might have the occasional nightmare and she will need someone to speak to, but in the end she will be alright. She is a survivor. I'd really like to know what happened in her past to make her this emotionally strong."

"The file the Air Force sent was not very informative. I only know that she lost her birth parents in a car accident when she was eleven and was then adopted by Janet Fraiser who was killed in action three and a half year ago," Casey answered.

"That makes her even more remarkable," George answered.

"With Sam and Janet Fraiser she had two very strong role models, George, and all the love a child needs," Melinda said and then quickly changed the subject. "Casey, are you ready to find out what's on those tapes?"

"I'd rather not know, but I don't have a choice. I still get the shivers when I think about that interview yesterday."

"How was that? You didn't mention it when you came to take my statement. Was it hard to get him to talk?" Olivia asked.

"He talked like a waterfall once Sam got in with him. I don't know how she did it. I thought I had heard everything but that guy really turned my stomach, and Sam listened to it as if he had been reading off the phone register."

"She looked shaken to me when I met Sam last night on the rooftop," Alex said. "She tried to hide it but I could see it in her eyes. They're as easy to read as Liv's eyes."

"I'm not easy to read, Lexi!" Olivia protested.

"Yes, you are, Liv, at least if someone knows you. You feel so much and it shows in your eyes. Sam is the same," Alex insisted.

Olivia wanted to protest again but George was faster, "Alex is right, Olivia. Sam and you both have a game face, so to speak, but if someone knows you your feelings are easy to read. During the talk with Williamson Sam could not afford to show her emotions but once or twice the mask slipped and the anguish was clearly written on her face and in her eyes. No, if there is one thing that can be said about both of you, Olivia, it's that you both feel too much."

"Stop analyzing me, George," Olivia said. "Don't you all have things to do? Video disks to watch? Perps to put to trial?"

"Liv is right. The sooner we have a look at the videos the sooner you'll have something with which to placate the DA, Casey," George said.

"You're right. You still want to come with me, Melinda?" Casey asked.

"Yes, I do. There are a few things I have to check up on anyway," Melinda answered.

"Good! Alex, it might be a good idea to show your face at the office. It might reduce some of Arthur's belligerence," Casey said before she departed with Melinda and George.

Olivia and Alex followed them with the eyes, "Do you really think that Arthur is on the warpath because I didn't come in, Liv?"

"I don't know, Lexi, but I'm pretty sure that he's not happy with the fact that I'm back in your life. However, Casey has a point, not that I don't like you here with me, I do, very much, but you still need to do your job."

"I should go and have a word with Arthur," Alex said with determination.

"Somehow, I don't think that's a good idea, Alex. You shouldn't give him such ammunition."

"What are you talking about, Liv?" Alex asked.

"Alex, you're not the only one who can read emotions from other's eyes, and your eyes tell me that you're still very much in a protective mood. If you confront Arthur now your protectiveness and his stubborn streak will clash and it could get ugly, very ugly. Just go into the office, do your job and then come back to me."

"I don't want to go. I want to stay here with you, keep you company."

"I know, my Lexi, and I want you at my side, 24/7, but we both have a job to do. At the moment my job is to heal as fast as I can, and your job is to make sure that your ADAs succeed in putting the perps away. So, go home, change and do your job, please," Olivia said and looked pleadingly up at her re-found lover.

"I never could resist that look. I even dreamed about it while I was in witness protection. Alright, I'll go to work, but I won't change. I don't have to appear in court; so, they'll get Alex Cabot in jeans. And should something come up…"

"Should something come up you'll just use the suit you always keep in your office for emergencies," Olivia answered.

"I thought you had forgotten about that little detail," Alex said with a smile.

"How could I? Our lunch dates forced you to rely on your reserves more than once," Olivia returned Alex' wide smile.

"Appearing in court with a shredded blouse undoubtedly would have got me in trouble with most of the judges. It's just as well that the new office is not conducive to such behavior. It just has too many windows."

"Oh, I'm sure we'd come up with something. It sounds like a challenge," Olivia said.

"And I know how much you love challenges, Liv, but please get well first."

"I promise, Lexi, and please bring something real to eat."

-x-x-x-

When they quietly entered the room to get Alex' briefcase they found Sam lying on the other bed. She looked up and offered a smile that was meant to be reassuring but failed completely. She quickly turned her gaze back to the sleeping Cassandra. Alex helped Olivia back into bed and left her after a passionate kiss. The detective closed her eyes to give Sam more privacy and quickly fell asleep herself.

When she woke up again she looked into the smiling face of Doctor Martin, "How are you feeling, Detective Benson?"

Olivia blinked a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes, "Pretty good, considering… In fact I feel good enough to start physical therapy today."

"Let's not run away with the horses here, Detective. Let me check your vitals and your mobility, and I'll think about it."

"Fair enough, Doc," Olivia answered and let him listen to her heartbeat, test her blood pressure, and manipulate her limbs.

"Your recuperative powers are amazing, Detective Benson. I'll arrange for your PT to start this afternoon. I also should check on Miss Fraiser but I don't want to disturb them. They look so peaceful."

Olivia looked over to the other bed where Sam had also fallen asleep, "Let them sleep, Doctor. This morning Miss Fraiser gave her statement to my colleagues. It was emotionally draining, to say the least."

"I have orders to accommodate all of you to my best abilities; so, I'll come back later."

"Thank you, Doctor Martin."

-x-x-x-

The next time Olivia opened her eyes it was early afternoon. Sam and Cassandra were talking quietly and there was a knock on the door. It were Christina Finn and Nick Potter, the same young ADAs from Alex' office as the day before, laden down with official looking files.

"We're sorry to disturb you, but there are some things Miss Cabot has to sign off on," Christina said.

"What are you talking about? Alex left for Hogan Place hours ago," Olivia asked alarmed.

"But she didn't show up. Are you sure, Detective?" Nick Potter asked.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm sure. Something must have happened. Damnit, with White still on the loose I should never have let her out of my sight. I have to find her," Olivia yanked the IV-line out of her arm and was instantly on her feet, but Sam held her back before she could storm off.

"Liv, stop it! Calm down! You won't find out what happened by running off without a plan," Sam said. "Try her cell phone. There might be a simple explanation."

Olivia did as Sam had asked, but she only was told that the number was out of reach what usually meant that the phone was not turned on. An overall bad sign.

"Don't panic, Liv. We'll find Alex. Now, sit down and take a deep breath. Good. Alex, did she stop by her apartment first or go directly to the office?" Sam asked.

"She said she wanted to go directly to the office, but she could have changed her mind on the way. I'll call Elliot and have him check the penthouse," Olivia said. Now, with the first moment of shock and panic over, her brain and her training kicked in. "I'll also alert Captain Cragen. One of you should make sure that she really is not at Hogan Place and the other should call the District Attorney."

"Good, meanwhile I'll call hospital security and have them check the security footage at the entrance and the emergency exits. Cassie, could you please boot up my laptop. You'll find a tracer program in the main directory. With a bit of tweaking I should be able to locate Alex' laptop."

Sam used the hospital phone and asked to be put through to the security department, but she had problems convincing the officer in charge to even think of checking the tapes.

"Who do you think you are, Lady?" The male voice at the other end of the phone said.

Sam's whole body language changed at that as well as her tone of voice. "Colonel Samantha Carter, Air Force, currently working for the New York Police Department, that's who I am, Mister. Get the tapes ready, time index between 1000 hours and 1030. I'll send Assistant District Attorney…" Nick quickly showed her his badge. "ADA Nick Potter down to review the tapes with you, and should you force us to get a search warrant you can already call a good lawyer because I'll go after you for obstruction. Did I make myself clear, Mister Tonnucio?"

"Yes Ma'am. I'll wait for your colleague."

"Thank you, Mister Tonnucio."

"That was easier than expected. Mister Potter, the security offices are on level 2, rooms 2-o-6 to 2-10. Thanks for your help."

"Wow, Mum, you just sounded like… Wow, even Uncle George never sounded this bossy," Cassie said. "Your laptop is up as well as the tracer program but modifying it is beyond my skills."

"I learned one or two things from General Hammond and General O'Neill, Cass, and besides General Hammond was never bossy around you. Believe me if he wanted to he could scare the living daylights out of everyone. I'll take care of the program. Could you call Casey Novak and fill her in, please?"

"Sure, Sam, no problem."

In the meantime Christina Finn had finally been put through to Arthur Branch. She didn't come much further than to say that Alexandra Cabot was presumed missing. He barked at her to give her phone to this "damned Benson woman", but Olivia was still on the phone with Captain Cragen. Sam quickly plucked the phone out of Christina's hands.

"District Attorney Branch, Detective Benson is on the phone with Captain Cragen of the one-six. My name is Colonel Samantha Carter, you have to do with me, Sir. Let me tell you what we know so far. ADA Cabot left Mercy Hospital at about 1015 this morning. She was on her way to the office. About ten minutes ago two of her ADAs came in with some paperwork to sign, that's when we learned that she has never arrived at the DA's office. ADA Potter is down at the security office reviewing the footage from the entrances and exits. Detective Stabler is checking out her apartment, just to make sure."

"What do you think has happened, Colonel?" Branch asked.

"Since it's highly unlikely that Miss Cabot simply disappeared without telling anyone the only logical assumption is that she has been abducted and considering that her ex-fiancé is still on the loose, I'm pretty sure that Robert White has something to do with it, Sir," Sam said.

"What can I do to help?" Branch asked.

"Captain Cragen is organizing the search for Al… Miss Cabot, Sir. But it might be a good idea to also intensify the search for Robert White."

"I'll call the commissioner and have him move White to the top of the APB list. In an hour every cop in the five boroughs will be on the look-out for him. Keep me posted, Colonel Carter, and when all of this is over, the two of us will have a little chat about you and her detective getting my bureau chief to overreach her authority by signing this permission for you."

"I will, Sir, and I apologize if my actions got Miss Cabot in trouble with you. All I wanted was to get my daughter back, whatever it takes."

"Well, the document declaring you an officer of the court is still valid. Use it wisely, Colonel," Branch said gruffly and disconnected the line.

Olivia had also just hung up with the captain, "Munch and Fin are on their way to White's apartment looking for a paper trail on where he could keep Alex, if it's really him. That was not something CSU had been looking for, but the warrant is still good. Elliot and Da… Captain Cragen are doing the same with the apartment he has in Alex' building. Find anything yet, Sam?"

"I'm still reprogramming, Liv, give me another five minutes," Sam answered.

"Will do, in the meantime I'll freshen up and get dressed," Olivia said.

"The wall compartment to the right holds bandages, Olivia. Make sure to double wrap your thigh and side," Sam said with her eyes already on the screen.

Christina observed how Olivia limped over to the bathroom door, "I know it's none of my business, but shouldn't Detective Benson stay in bed. It wasn't this long since she was gravely injured. The DA's office is ripe with rumors."

"Do you know Detective Benson and Miss Cabot well, Miss…?" Cassandra asked.

"Christina Finn, Miss Fraiser. In the past few days there were lots of rumors about their past, but I never met Detective Benson before yesterday. I could see that Miss Cabot and her love each other," the young ADA answered.

"Yes, they do, and that's why Detective Benson can't stand back and do nothing when the woman she loves is possibly in danger. She's a police officer; it's her job to protect people. She would give her life to protect complete strangers. Do you really think she would not do everything in her power to keep the people she loves safe?"

"I guess so," Christina answered, "but as far as I know you've only woken up from your coma this morning. How can you know Detective Benson well enough to know those things about her?"

"You can see it in her eyes. Let's just say that I recognized the expression in her eyes. I've seen it before," Cassandra answered.

Before Christina had a chance to reply Sam burst out, "Damn it."

"What is it, Sam?" Olivia was standing in the opened bathroom door.

"I found Alex' laptop, but according to this signal it never left the building. I guess it's somewhere close to the entrance, in the waiting area or a garbage can. I should go and check it out," Sam answered.

"Let me do that," Christina said. "I'll bring up whatever I find."

"Thank you; that would be appreciated," Sam answered.

-x-x-x-

As soon as the young woman was gone Sam told Olivia to sit down on her bed. "Let me check on your injuries, Liv. I want to make sure that you're up to whatever the next couple of hours might bring."

"And if you think I'm not, what are you going to do? Shackle me to the bed?" Olivia asked.

"No, Liv, you only would find a way to get loose and storm off on your own, without back-up," Sam answered. "Oh, please, Liv, those innocent looks don't work with me. I would do the same. Put your legs up and let me feel."

Sam let her hands glide over Olivia's side and leg. "Given the short time you had to heal, you're doing fine. I'll give a bit of a boost to your side, just enough to make it unlikely that the stitches will break should you have to put strain on it."

She put her hand on Olivia's right side and closed her eyes. "That should do it, Liv. Your thigh, however, that's another thing altogether. I don't have much experience with doing this and whatever I do, I doubt that a doctor would not become suspicious."

"I understand, Sam. Leave my leg alone. I'll just try not to put too much weight on it," Olivia answered. "I'll be alright. I don't want to put you in any danger. You saved my life once and as long as I don't get shot again, I'll be fine."

"Then I'll just have to make sure that you stay out of harm's way," Sam said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Alex would never forgive me if something happened to you."

-x-x-x-

A knock on the door stopped what could have easily turned into a discussion between two very stubborn women. It was Nick Potter and one of the security guards of the hospital who was pushing a cart with a monitor and a DVD player.

"We got her. She's leaving with a man. I think that's her fiancé. I saw him once when he brought her to the office," Nick said. "They look real cozy together. She probably just got distracted."

Only Sam's hand on her shoulder kept Olivia from ramming his words back down his throat. Instead she demanded, "Let's see it."

The view screen was activated, and they saw the main entrance of the hospital. When Alex and Robert came into view he had his left around her shoulders and his right hand seemed to hold her right arm. At first glance they looked like a couple in love, at least if one did not take her frightened eyes into account.

Sam asked the security guard who had activated the video unit to focus on the hand Robert had on Alex' arm. The man seemed not too experienced in handling the equipment but finally managed to enlarge the part in question. A gun was pressed against Alex' ribs.

"Do you still think that they look, what did you call it, 'real cozy' together, Mister Potter?" Olivia asked angrily and Nick found an interesting spot on the floor to study.

"I'm sorry, I should have looked more closely," Nick said.

"Yes, you should, and you never should allow your prejudice to cloud your perception," Sam answered.

Nick looked up and saw the challenge in her eyes, "I'm not a homophobe. One of my best friends is gay. I think it was the other way 'round: my perception has clouded my judgment. The one time I saw her fiancé he gave off the vibes of being a stuck-up snob, and I thought that he was perfect for the Ice Queen." He had rushed the last part of his answer and he seemed surprised at his honest words.

To everyone's surprise Olivia burst out laughing, "Did you just call Alexandra Cabot 'Ice Queen'?"

Nick looked at her with wide eyes and nodded slowly.

Olivia laughed some more. Sam knew that it was mainly a nervous reaction, but her curiosity simply demanded an answer, "Care to elaborate, Olivia?"

"Wait 'til I tell the guys, they will have a field day. At least Alex has come up in the world. When she started at the one-six, we only called her Ice Princess."

Cassie laughed at that and Sam's smile this time reached her eyes. It gave Olivia a chance to regain control over her frazzled emotions, "Back to work, Sam. Can you check all the real estate in Robert White's name and everything belonging to his family?"

"Robert White should be no problem, Liv, but his family… White is not exactly an uncommon name," Sam answered and went over to Cassandra's bed where her laptop was waiting.

Her cell phone rang, "Daniel, I didn't expect such an early call. Is everything alright?" She listened for a moment and then stepped out on the balcony.

Cassandra pulled Sam's computer and stared at the screen. It had put itself into the stand-by modus which had automatically activated the password protection. She made one try and was only half surprised to see that Sam still used her old standard password: Janet's birthday and the day they both had met in the mountain.

"Real estate… you have to pay taxes for real estate, right? Then I'll probably find what we need via the IRS. Let's see," Cassandra said more to herself than to the others.

Olivia asked the security guard for a copy of the disk and thanked him for his help.

"You're welcome, Ma'am, and should you need anything else, please let me know. You'll get all the help we can give," he answered and handed the DVD over. "You'll find me at the security office. I'll go over the other, older tapes and try to find out when and where this man came in. Someone getting abducted at gun point from my hospital pisses me off. Just ask for Anthony Tonnucio"

He left and Olivia decided not to speculate about the reasons for his sudden change in attitude, but that left her with nothing to do. Nick was on the phone, Cassandra was hunched over the laptop and Sam was still on the balcony. She had her back to the room, but something in her posture told Olivia that this Daniel didn't have good news for her. However, she didn't get a chance to ask.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	16. Chapter 16Hide and Go Seek

**CH 16: Hide and Go Seek**

The moment Sam returned from the balcony, there was another knock on the door. Christina came in with Alex' briefcase.

"Sorry that it took me so long. I had to enlist the help of hospital security to convince a young man to give up the briefcase he had just pulled out of a garbage can close to the elevators," she said.

"Have you checked its content?" Olivia asked.

"No, for me it was enough that I recognized it. I thought I'd leave that to you, Detective Benson. You probably know better if there's something missing."

Christina handed Olivia the briefcase and she opened it. It contained a couple of files, the laptop, a yellow notepad, a cell phone, a couple of pens and a photo of Alex and Olivia sharing a lounger somewhere in a garden.

Olivia put the candid shot instinctively under her pillow. Sam smiled at that but also saw the dejected look the detective cast towards the cell phone.

"It's no wonder she didn't answer the phone. It's been in her bag the whole time," Olivia said almost tonelessly.

"Liv, look at it, look at the cell phone. It's her old one. We still have a chance of locating her," Sam said. "We simply trace her new one."

"I didn't even get voice mail, Sam, it's turned off, and there's no way to trace a cell phone that has been turned off."

"There must be a way. We can't just leave it to chance…" For more than ten seconds Sam stared at the phone in Olivia's hands, "Olivia, Alex, would she rather buy the next best phone or something more top-of-the-line?"

"Alex has a thing for quality, but I doubt that it would be anything fancy. Why?" Olivia answered.

"Please check if there's a user's manual or a receipt still stuck in the briefcase."

"Nothing," Olivia said after having turned the old leather case upside down, "but would you tell me what goes through that head of yours?"

"I'm thinking optional satellite service. Before I went to my new base I thought about buying one for Cassie but she talked me out of it." Seeing the question marks in Olivia's eyes Sam added, "Satellite phones are usually very bulky but those new models look like your run-of-the mill cell phone, more basic even. They don't have internet connection or a camera because the space is taken up by the satellite hook-up. Whenever the users get out of range of the normal cell phone net their calls are automatically transferred to the next communications satellite in range."

"That sounds like something that would appeal to Alex," Olivia answered, "but how do we find out what kind of phone she really bought?"

"The only time Alex' has been home since she found out about the listening devices was with you and then her briefcase stayed at the precinct."

"So, the documentation for her new cell phone is either in her small handbag in her apartment or at her mother's house in the Hamptons. Great, now I have to call and tell Caroline Cabot that her daughter is missing. I had hoped to get Alex back before we had to tell her. Better bite the bullet now." Olivia said and dialed the number of the Cabot Mansion on Long Island from memory, but only got the answering machine.

"Do you see any other way, Sam?" Olivia asked.

"We could call the provider, but I don't think that they'll give up their data without a warrant," Sam answered.

"Sam, only two days ago you proved that you're able to hack the FBI; the intranet of a telephone company shouldn't be that much of a problem," Olivia said.

"Getting in is not the problem, Olivia, but it would take a lot of time to sort through their files. Plus, if Alex really chose such a satellite phone the rest would be much easier with their collaboration. It can be done without the phone company but as far as I understand your procedures for a conviction we'll have to prove that we obtained the information legally, right? I don't want Robert White to, what do you call it?, yes, get off on a technicality."

Christina was a bit shocked that a supposedly highly decorated police officer and the blond woman who had called herself an Air Force colonel were speaking so casually about breaking the law. However, she didn't say anything, lest one of them remembered that with Bureau Chief Cabot missing Nick and she had no real reason not to go back to the office. For her part she wanted to see first hand how this whole thing would end, and she had a feeling that would be here, in this hospital room.

"I see your point, Sam, but why would we need their collaboration aside from identifying Alex' cell phone? And I still don't see how that knowledge could help us. The phone is still turned off."

"Usually it wouldn't, Olivia, but when I researched those phones I learned that it takes three to four days to get the paperwork through. So, it's probable that Alex' connection, should she have such a phone, is not active yet. That in turn is done by the provider using an individualized activation code which is hardwired into the phone. The code is sent to a satellite that then will broadcast it back to Earth and find the phone, regardless if it's turned on or if it doesn't have any power. And the moment the satellite hook-up is activated the provider can trace the phone by GPS feedback. The technical details are a bit more complicated than that but…"

"I probably wouldn't understand them anyway, but I think I got the gist of it. I'll call Cragen and tell him about your idea, but you might have to explain it to the guys from TARU," Olivia answered.

"Taru?" Sam asked.

"Short for Technical Assistance Response Unit, they're our nerds. Let me call Cragen and then you can tell me about your bad news, Sam."

Sam listened in when Captain Cragen informed Olivia that the search of both of Robert White's apartments had come up empty, and though the APB on White had been extended to the whole Tri-State area, it had yet to yield results. In turn she filled him in on what they had found out so far. Cragen asked for Alex' cell phone number and said that he would try to get the phone company to co-operate without a warrant and have Casey stand by just in case they wouldn't. He also said that he would have TARU call Sam should they have any questions.

-x-x-x-

"Alright, Sam, spill it!" Olivia said.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Olivia," Sam looked into the detective's eyes but the confidence she projected didn't fool Olivia and neither did her innocent shrug of her shoulders.

"Please, Sam, maybe I can help."

Sam looked around to make sure that Christina and Nick were out of earshot before she answered. The two young ADAs had gone over to Cassandra's bed and had obviously been enlisted to check out the various locations of White's property with which she was coming up. The three of them seemed very focused on their work but Sam still kept her voice down.

"Daniel told me that my bosses know about my presence here. The base I command is an international joint venture with scientists and soldiers from almost all around the world. So, aside from my superiors in the Air Force there is a so-called International Oversight Comity, IOC. Officially they're only to supervise the finances but from the very beginning about three years ago they have been working to gain more influence at the base. That I'm here now could be the leverage they've waited for to get what they want. Tomorrow there will be a meeting between the Joint Chiefs and members of the IOC. My former and my current commanding officer will also be there and try to run interference, but I doubt that it will do much good."

"But Sam, you only left your post to save your daughter's life. They have children themselves, they should understand that, and without you Cassandra would still be in the hands of this killer," Olivia said.

"This is all spilled milk, Olivia. I knew that the reaction of the IOC and the Joint Chiefs could be extreme, and I knew that it would be out of my hands the moment I left my base. Cassie is safe now, that's all that counts for me. Let them put me into jail, I could use the time-out," Sam answered.

"Sam, you can't just give up without a fight."

"I never expected to get out of this unscathed, and we have more important things to do. Tell me about Alex. How does she react under stress? Or when threatened with a gun?" Sam said.

Olivia recognized the stubbornness on Sam's face from the mirror and accepted the change of subject.

"Frankly, I don't know, Sam. Would you have asked me three and a half years ago… but now… after having spent all this time looking over her shoulder, fearing that the next stranger she meets will pull out a gun and kill her… I really don't know. What I do know is that Alexandra Cabot is strong and stubborn. She didn't hesitate to come back and risk her life when Elliot and I needed her one and a half year ago. She testified against the man who shot her two years earlier though I knew she was afraid. It brought her back on the radar of Velez and his dealers and hit-men, forced her to start all over again with a new name, a new past and a new job. But faced with someone threatening her with a gun or a knife, I don't know, I just don't know, Sam."

"To me that sounds like Alex is a fighter, Olivia. She will make it as hard as possible for White. She will buy us the time we'll need to find her."

"That's what I'm afraid off, Sam, because there are two sides to this medal. And I don't know enough about Robert White to predict his reaction to someone getting in his face. He could…" Olivia fell silent.

"I know that you're afraid, Liv. It's a natural reaction… We'll find Alex and you will be together again. Everything will be fine, Liv," Sam squeezed Olivia's uninjured thigh and changed the subject. "Let's see what Cassie and her little helpers have found."

They walked over to the other bed, "What did you find, Cass?"

"The search for his sister's property is still running. Including White Incorporated we found over twenty objects so far. Nick and Christina checked out which ones are still in use and which are abandoned, but nothing did strike us as a likely location. Olivia, if you could have a look. It's your town; you might see something we missed."

When Cassandra was sure that Olivia and the two young ADAs were distracted she asked Sam, "Are you alright, Mum? You didn't look too happy when you returned from your call with Daniel."

Sam remembered that she had promised her daughter not to sugar-coat things, and answered, "The IOC meets with the Joint Chiefs tomorrow morning. Jack and General Landry will also be there, but from what Daniel told me, Jack had to bully their way into the meeting. They could issue an arrest warrant right after that."

"Then go to Washington and speak to them yourself. It won't be that easy to condemn your actions if you're around to justify what you did," Cassandra said.

"That's a good idea, Cass, but first we'll have to find Alex," Sam replied though she doubted that she would come far beyond the main entrance before someone would take her into custody. "Tell me about your search parameters, kiddo."

Cassandra saw in Sam's eyes that she had not been entirely honest with her answer but she let it go. She knew that Sam was still trying to protect her, and old habits die hard. At least she had told her what was going on.

So, she turned back to the laptop screen where her last search was just concluding, "I'll show you with Camille White's immoveables. See, there's a condo bordering Central Park listed as her main domicile and a suite of offices in the village. According to Google she runs a fairly successful advertising agency. And here are two more properties, but I don't know where they are situated, probably out of town."

"Then let's have a look at a map, Cass," Sam said and called up a map that would have made Google Earth green with envy.

She put the first address in and found a mansion set in a big fenced-in property. The second house was considerably smaller but had the advantage of a private beach and landing stage with a boathouse.

"The waterfront property looks fairly isolated and the water provides an easy way to escape," Sam commented.

"Let's check it out on the realtor's website, Mum," Cassie said.

She quickly found out that the smaller house had been on the market for a couple of weeks but wasn't any longer. So, Cassandra took Sam's Blackberry and dialed the number listed on the old add. A few minutes later she had learned that Camille had put her old house on the market when she had bought the new, bigger property, but that she had put the sale on hold a couple of months ago. The realtor was forthcoming enough to tell Cassandra why without her having to ask. It seemed as if her brother needed a place to relax and get away from the stress of living in Manhattan while his fiancée was looking for something of their own.

"Sounds promising; good work, kiddo," Sam said and called the others over.

-x-x-x-

"So, you agree that it's the most likely location, Olivia?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Then we are agreed?" Sam said.

"Yes Sam," Olivia answered. "I'll call Elliot and ask him for a status report. We'll need transportation."

"Nick might be able to help with that. I'll call him," Sam answered.

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked.

Both Sam and Olivia had already turned to their cell phones; so, Cassandra answered, "You don't want to know, Nick. You're an officer of the court. It might force you to interfere."

"And if we both promise that officially we didn't hear anything?" Christina asked.

"They're talking about checking out the waterfront property without telling it to Detective Benson's colleagues," Cassandra answered.

"Why? They could help. And how do you know?" Nick asked.

"Detective Benson is on medical leave. Her superior officer would never allow her to go, but for her own peace of mind she has to go there. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Ale… Miss Cabot and she had not been there to at least try to stop it."

"I think I can understand that," Nick answered. "But that still doesn't answer how you know."

"I'm a military brat, Nick. I grew up with people risking their lives every day for people they will never know. Police officers dedicated to their job are not that much different," Cassandra answered.

What she didn't share with the young ADAs was that she thought that the parallels between her second surrogate mother and Olivia Benson were too striking to be explained away by the similarities of their chosen profession.

-x-x-x-

"Nick? It's Sam Carter. I need transportation, fast."

"Where to?" Nick asked.

"Long Island, a waterfront property between Georgica Beach and East Hampton Beach."

"I guess time is of the essence?"

"Yes, Alex Cabot has been kidnapped by her former fiancé. We have reason to believe that she's being held there," Sam answered. "It's a two hours drive with a car, but a bike might be able to bring us there faster."

"Fritz told me that Detective Benson and you have been brought to Mercy's. Are you still there?" Nick asked.

"Yes."

"Good, I'll call you back in a couple of minutes."

-x-x-x-

Olivia had just finished her short call to Elliot. The phone company had been eager to help after Casey had threatened them to subpoena all of their records and charge them with obstruction of justice. Alex had really bought one of the satellite optional cell phones. At the moment they were working with TARU to crack the password that protected the key code which would activate the satellite uplink.

"Alex used 'OliviaBenson' as password on her laptop," Sam said. "It might work there, too."

Olivia nodded and pushed the speed dial for Elliot's cell. She blushed a bit when she told him about the password and quickly ended the call. She wanted to pace, but Sam's steady gaze held her captive on the bed. It also calmed her down, and she decided that now that they had a course of action, she was already feeling much better.

"Liv, if we find Alex we might need the help of local law enforcement. They should be equipped to keep him from escaping with a boat," Sam said.

"I don't have any contacts there, and I can't make an official request. I'm afraid, we'll just have to risk it," Olivia answered.

"What about this Judge Alex mentioned? George Harriman. She said he was friends with the Chief of East Hampton Police."

It took Olivia a few minutes to convince Judge Harriman's secretary who had just been about to call it a day to put her through to the judge. In the end the magic words had been, "I'm calling on behalf of Alexandra Cabot of the DA's office."

She explained the situation to the judge. To her great relief he didn't ask too many questions and offered to call his friend to keep an eye on the property in question. He also gave her his cell phone number in case she needed something else.

-x-x-x-

In the meantime Nick had called Sam back as promised and told her to be at the helicopter landing pad on the rooftop of Mercy Hospital in twenty minutes. A friend of his ran a small business doing private transports, but mostly catering to the tourist business. A private chopper flying low over Long Island would not raise any suspicions.

"We'll be there, Nick. Thank you, I owe you one. And tell your friend that I will make sure that he gets paid."

"I don't doubt that, Sam, but he's not doing it for money. You need help and we take care of our own," he said and cut the line.

For a moment Sam stared at the phone, then she shock her head and put it away.

"You heard, Olivia?"

"Yes. I don't know how he did it, but with a chopper we'll be there in less than half an hour. We might even be able to do some scouting from above."

"That might not be such a good idea. I don't want White to panic," Sam cautioned.

"Sam, if you give me your phone, I might be able to do something about that," Cassandra said.

The young woman took the Blackberry and once again called the realtor. She told them that she had just rented a chopper with some friends to pass the time before dinner, and that they wanted to take a quick fly-over of the property, and if she could warn the owner that there might be some noise later that day, please. The realtor thanked her for her consideration and assured her that she would pass on the information immediately.

"You're a genius, Cass, and definitively your Mom's daughter. It's deviously elegant," Sam said and embraced her.

"There's no guarantee that White's sister will pass on the information and that it will be done in time, but it was worth a try. And don't give me genius. You're the genius here," Cassie answered.

"Cassandra Fraiser, the last time we checked your IQ was over 140. Don't make yourself smaller," Sam chided.

"I'm not, Sam, but in comparison to you and Daniel everyone looks dumb," Cassie insisted.

"If that test had been about people's skills Daniel would have vastly outmatched me, but that's neither here nor there. Liv and I will be back as soon as possible, with Alex. I want you to take care of yourself in the meantime."

"I will, Mum, but you have to promise the same. You're all I have left," Cassandra answered.

"You have Daniel and Jack, Uncle George and T, Cassie," Sam protested.

"You're all I have left of her."

"And you're all I have left of your Mom. I promise I'll do my best to come back to you," Sam answered and once again hugged the young woman.

Sam scanned the room. Olivia was pulling a weapon and harness out of her bag and Nick and Christina were standing close to the door. They looked a bit lost but also didn't seem willing to go back to the DA's office. She pulled her bag off the backrest of the chair, shielded what she was doing with her back and gave Cassandra the zat'ni'kitel.

"Keep it with you, Cass. No, don't protest. Keep it close. It will make me feel better to know that you can defend yourself. I'll leave the bag with you, including the Blackberry. Speed-dial one is Daniel, two is Olivia's cell phone, three the one-six and four Alex' phone. You'll also find Doctor Lam, Uncle George and General Landry in there. The techs at the SGC made sure that the phone is not traceable."

"You know I don't like weapons, Sam," Cassie replied.

"Yes, I know, but you know how to use them and it would make me feel much better."

"You're not fighting fair, Colonel Carter."

"All is fair in love, war and family, young Miss Fraiser," Sam answered in an effort to diffuse the tenseness of the situation.

"You sound like Grandma, Sam."

Sam grinned at Cassie, "I might at that, but then you also should keep in mind that Mama Fraiser is always right."

Cassandra laughed. It was a mantra everyone who ever had to do with the matriarch of the Fraiser clan learned very quickly or they wouldn't last past the first family meeting.

"She complained that you're not writing regularly when I saw them for the Easter holiday," Cassie said.

"I know she expressed her displeasure very eloquently in her last letter. It's difficult to get hand-written notes back home, and it all would be easier if she just gave in and graduated to writing emails." Sam once again looked around. "Liv is ready. It's time to go. Which one of the legal twins do you want to stay with you to keep you company? And yes, I know you don't need a babysitter."

"I don't, but they might. Let them both stay."

-x-x-x-

Sam and Olivia had not been out of the door for more than a couple of minutes when Elliot Stabler stormed in, "Where the hell are they? I knew Liv was up to something."

Cassandra smiled at his reaction, "I guess you are Liv's partner, Elliot Stabler, right?"

He nodded.

"May I see some ID, please?"

Elliot pulled out his badge and showed it to her.

"Sam and Olivia are about to fly over to Long Island. We think we identified the most probable place where White would hold Alex. If you hurry up to the rooftop you just might catch the chopper coming to get them," Cassandra answered.

"Thank you," Elliot said and was almost half through the door before he turned around and added, "I'm glad to see that you're alright, Miss Fraiser."

As soon as the door had closed Cassandra asked, "Not that I don't like the company, but shouldn't the two of you go back to work?"

"Yes," Nick answered. "We should have, hours ago, but we usually only get to deal with the aftermath of a crime, with traumatized victims and the perps. This seems so much more real. I never put much thought to catching the perps before. I'd like to see how it ends."

Christina signaled her approval of Nick's words and added, "I… , we would have preferred to see it first hand, but that's not for what we were trained in law school. Officially it's after office hours by now; so, no one can hold us accountable for being here. Still, the first number Colonel Carter will deal as soon as our bureau chief has been rescued is yours."

"By any chance: are you a Vulcan Trekky?" Cassandra asked.

Christina was tempted to answer that she didn't have any idea what Cassandra was talking about. Instead she answered, "New Generation and Voyager, a few eps of DS9, and yes, I always admired Vulcan detachment; so, I'll take it as a compliment."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	17. Chapter 17: The Rescue

**CH 17: The Rescue**

The chopper set down on a baseball diamond about half a mile from their target area. Elliot had jumped in just before take-off, and he had given his partner that at the same time long suffering and defiant look Sam knew all too well from her own team. That look saying: whatever you do, and regardless of how stupid I think it is, I'll be at your side; that look she had given Jack and Daniel on more occasions than she liked to count, and vice versa.

Nick and the pilot jumped out even before the blades had completely stopped to turn; Sam, Olivia and Elliot followed suite.

"Thank you for getting us here this fast. We'll have to go now," Olivia said.

"Yes, we do, and we'll go with you," the chopper pilot, Marty Bannion, answered.

"Our captain will have our asses and our badges if we involve civilians in a rescue mission we have no authority to conduct," Elliot protested.

"We're not exactly civilians, Detective Stabler," Seeing that Sam was also about to protest Marty turned to her and added, "Let's not argue legalese, Colonel Carter. It will sort itself out when the time comes. Besides, don't you know that the Beta Unit never leaves one of their own behind, Colonel?"

"The Beta Unit?" Sam asked visibly stunned. "Remind me to kick the Colonel's butt. Ten years and he never said word one."

"He's a general now, Colonel, mind your words," Nick answered.

"Sorry, Nick," Sam replied. "It's just that Beta Unit was legend when I attended the Academy, and it still is. There never again has been anyone as good as them, as you at special ops."

"Yes, Beta Unit was special, and Jack told me that if he ever had to form a new Beta Unit you would be his chosen commander. You're part of the family, Samantha Carter; and as the highest ranking officer in the field it's up to you to give the orders."

Elliot offered no further protest and Olivia decided to trust Sam and her partner. So, Sam took command, "Then let's go and scout our target."

Elliot caught Olivia's questioning look and told her what he had heard about the famous Beta Unit in his time as a Marine. There had been nothing more than rumors and some people even had thought that they didn't exist at all but had been made up to serve as a cover for other special ops units really doing the work.

"I heard that Beta Unit consisted of highly trained specialists, communication and stealth experts and that every single one of them was a superb marksman. The stories that were told about their missions could fill a whole library though every single one of them was said to be top secret. We should be in good hands with those two and you can stay on the sidelines."

"This is Alex we're talking about, Elliot. It's my job to protect her and I can't do that sitting in the back," Olivia protested.

"Liv, I can see that every step hurts you. Alex wouldn't want you to risk yourself," Elliot tried to reason with her.

"If it were Kathy or one of the kids, El, would you stand idly by?" Olivia asked.

"No, I wouldn't, but at least promise me that you will be careful. From what you said Robert White seemed to have been alone when he took her, but there's no guarantee that he still is. He could have hired himself some muscles."

Sam listened in on Elliot's and Olivia's conversation and though she only did so with half an ear she silently promised herself that she would do everything in her power to protect Olivia and Alex. The better part of her mind, however, reviewed what they had seen when Marty had flown them over the White property and compared it to the map she had studied before leaving the hospital.

A two-story building with a flat roof set between the ocean and the dense woods through which they just were walking. There was a swimming pool to the East of the house and a three-car garage on the West side. Behind it was a terrace that ran the whole width of the house and less than twenty yards after that the lawn abruptly changed to sand and the beach began. The landing stage began on the lawn, stretched over the beach and ended more than fifty yards later on the water. The boathouse was west of the planks forming the landing stage, but neither the satellite pictures nor their fly-over had given any indication if there also was a boat.

It would be the perfect escape route and since the boathouse was fairly isolated it would be most logical place to hold someone captive. Should White keep Alex there it would be hard to get close without being seen. Sam took a deep breath and shock her head. There was no sense in speculation but that did not keep her from planning a way to approach the landing unseen, slip underneath and get to her target from below. Sam only rarely exercised her strategic muscles that way, those mental games were more Jack's forte. It was what he did during boring briefings.

They passed the driveway to the property and a big sign announcing "WHITE MANOR" but no fence, wall or other obstacle that could have kept unwanted visitors out. They reached the edge of the woods without incident and Sam pulled the medical scanner out of her back pocket. It was still set for close range scans and she had to change the setting for a wider spread. It showed four dots on the ground floor of the building and five more stationed around the house, one of them at the end of the landing stage.

So, Elliot had been points on with thinking that White had bought himself some reinforcements. Suddenly being outnumbered two to one certainly wouldn't make their task easier. It probably was time to call in reinforcements of their own, but first they had to make sure that Alex really was inside – and to do that they had to get much closer to the house.

"Elliot, Marty, I need a visual assessment of the East side of the house. Play it safe and stay under cover. Nick and I will check the other side. Olivia, if we're not back in ten minutes call the cavalry, and please, don't protest. I promise that you'll be with us when we move in on the house."

To Elliot's surprise Olivia nodded, albeit reluctantly.

-x-x-x-

Exactly eight and a half minutes later the two scouting teams rejoined Olivia. Marty reported first, "Three targets, one at the front door, looking bored and not very observant but armed with two handguns he's wearing in shoulder holsters. Target two is stationed at the other side of the pool. He also seems to have little interest in his surroundings; and three was just walking back from the pier, headed towards the terrace. There was no indication that they'd do rounds or check in on each other. Through the open terrace doors we saw a woman with long blonde hair bound to a chair in the middle of the room. Elliot assures me that it was Miss Cabot."

"Was she alright?" Olivia asked and immediately chided herself for being unprofessional. She just couldn't afford to let her worry get the upper hand.

"We only saw her from behind, Liv, and we were too far away to hear what they were talking about or if they were talking at all. Alex had her head held high, so, I'm sure that she's conscious. As far as I could tell her legs have been bound to the front legs of the chair. There are handcuffs at her wrists and her arms have been forced behind the backrest of the chair."

Olivia only nodded in acknowledgement but didn't say anything.

"Two guards at the other side of the house. We followed the first all around the garage where he met with another one coming from the back entrance. They shared a cigarette and chatted." Nick had taken over but now he looked at Sam as if he were not sure what to say next.

"We crept to the edge of the storage shed behind the garages and listen to them. They talked about their boring assignment and that they didn't understand why their boss was going along with 'that nutcase'. The first one said. 'As if one could force a woman into a marriage at gun point, nowadays. The first chance she gets she will go to the police and send him to jail.' At that the second man answered. 'Especially that woman. She has spunk. It took three of us to tie her down on that chair; and did you see how she brought down Pauly? But it's not about what that Robert-creep wants anymore. The boss wants his money by tomorrow morning, and the only way she'll have a chance to survive is by giving up the passwords to the Cayman Island accounts.'"

Olivia had visibly blanched at Sam's words; and Sam filled the two older men in to give Olivia a chance to regain her equilibrium, "Robert White has been embezzling money from Alex' trust fund for months now, ever since she came back. I found the accounts a couple of days ago and changed the passwords after I had transferred most of the money to other accounts. So, even if Alex gave them the new passwords, and I'm not sure that she even knows them, it wouldn't do much good."

"So, it's time to pull off the velvet gloves," Elliot stated.

"You're right, Elliot. Our first order of business will be to take out the guards outside. I want them alive, if possible, and neatly restrained for the local police. We'll call them as soon as that is done. They will be our back-up, but by the time they arrive here we should have finished with the guys inside the house. My scanner tells me that they're all in one room, on the ground floor."

"And how do you want to play that? We can't just barge in there guns blazing. It's too dangerous for Alex," Olivia protested.

"We won't, Olivia, but we also can't wait for them to come out to us one after the other. No, you and I will go in, using the front door. We'll distract the men holding Alex captive. That will give Nick, Marty and Elliot the chance to sneak up to them and render them unconscious or whisk Alex away, whatever is easier," Sam said.

"Then you both will be a target should something not go according to plan," Elliot said. "Let me do it."

"Olivia and I are the logical choice, Elliot. Sending only one person in will be too dangerous, and should something go wrong Olivia and I can watch the other's back. Tuesday morning you've seen that we make a good team, especially fighting back to back." Sam said alluding to their sparring match with them members of SWAT One. "And with a bit of luck Robert and this boss person will think that they have the upper hand if they think that they'll only have to deal with women. They might even try to use Olivia's presence to blackmail Alex into giving them the codes," Sam said.

"Only if they're stupid enough to underestimate the two of you," Nick cautioned.

"It's of no importance what they think of us. One way or the other we will serve as a distraction. The whole second part of the operation will be over in five minutes tops, but now we should start with the first part, taking out the guards."

Before Sam had a chance to assign them to teams Elliot's cell phone rang. Luckily they were too far away from the house for the guards to hear it. It was Captain Cragen telling him that the techs had located Alex' cell phone on the south coast of Long Island and that they were busy coordinating a task force with the local police. He also ordered him to stay put at the hospital and make sure that Olivia did too.

Olivia gave him a quick nod and Elliot confessed where they were and what they intended to do as well as about their unexpected reinforcement in the form of Nick and Marty.

"What the hell were you thinking, Stabler? Are you completely out of your mind, involving civilians?" Cragen shouted.

Since Elliot seemed at a loss for words, Sam took the phone from him, "Captain Cragen, Sir, I take full responsibility. We saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. You and East Hampton Police are welcome to join the party." She ended the conversation by shutting off the phone and handed it back to Elliot. "Let's go, people. We have work to do. Olivia and Nick are with me, Marty and Elliot, you'll take the other side. Remember, if at all possible, don't do them any permanent harm."

They were in luck. The attention level and the reaction time of the guards were not very high; one of them had even been dozing in a lounge chair on the terrace. Taking them out was done by the book and restraining and gagging them only a question of minutes. Unfortunately only four of the five guards had still been outside. For a moment Sam contemplated to wait until he came back out but there was no guarantee that he would and so, she decided to go on with the plan.

-x-x-x-

Christina, Nick and Cassandra had graduated from talking about science fiction shows and movies to exchanging their respective experiences at college, even though at different turns their minds slipped to what might be going on at the Hamptons at the moment. By mutual unspoken consent they tried to keep the stories on the amusing side and avoided the enormous pink elephant taking up most of the room.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside, the door burst open and before any of them had a chance to understand what was going on, Nick and Christina had been knocked out by the flailing fists of Carl Kelles. He looked around with wild eyes and stormed towards Cassandra's bed.

Cassandra froze, images from the night he had raped her flashed through her mind. With this left hand he grabbed the front of her pajama shirt and started to drag her out of bed. He slapped her with his right hand. Cassandra tasted her own blood and that shocked her into resistance.

She tried to push him off her with both hands with all the strength she could muster, and suddenly he went flying. He hit the wall almost two yards away. His head impacted with a loud crunch but he didn't go down. He shook himself like an ugly cat coming out of the rain and once again started towards her. Cassandra pulled the zat'ni'kitel from under her covers and shot him, once. He crumbled bonelessly to the floor. She kept the weapon pointed at him. It trembled slightly in her hands and every survival instinct told her to shoot again. It would kill him and with a third shot she could simply make him disappear. There was nothing she wanted to do more.

Still pointing the weapon she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It would be so easy. No one would ever know. Nick and Christina couldn't have possibly seen who had attacked them and she could tell everyone that he had run out again after she had put up a fight. It would be so easy.

Then there was a hand on top of hers, "Cassandra, Cassie, are you alright? You don't have to worry anymore. You got him good."

She looked into Christina's visibly worried eyes and returned to reality. Kelles was still lying in a heap on the floor but she knew that wouldn't last, the stun setting of the zats was more to inflict pain than to render unconscious, depending on how much pain a person could take it didn't even do that.

"He's only unconscious. It won't last," Cassie repeated her thoughts loud. "We have to restrain him and call hospital security and the one-six."

Christina helped a wobbly and confused Nick back to his feet and together they bound Kelles's hands behind his back with some bandages. They just had finished when he opened his eyes and tried to get up; luckily the bandages made surprisingly solid restraints but Christina and Nick still needed their combined strength to keep him down.

Kelles started to curse and shout while he tried to somehow dislodge them from his back. Among others he promised that he would kill them all and that they would die slowly and painfully. When he started to go into detail Nick grabbed the tray with Cassandra's dinner the nurses had brought in only minutes earlier and smacked it against his head. He instantly was out like a light and all three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

They didn't get much time to relax. "What is going on here? The young officer outside is apparently unconscious, and where are my daughter and Detective Benson?"

"Nick, please call hospital security and the 16th precinct. They need to know what happened here." Christina took charge, to her own surprise. "Are you Alexandra Cabot's mother?"

"Caroline Cabot," the older woman answered. "The young woman on the bed must be Cassandra Fraiser. I already know a lot about her, but who are you and who is he?"

"My name is Christina Finn and this is Nick Potter. We work for your daughter. A couple of hours ago when we came here to get Bureau Chief Cabot to sign some papers we found out that she had left to go to the office sometime in the morning. She never got there. The security tapes of the hospital show that Robert White, her former fiancé abducted her. Detective Benson, Colonel Carter and Detective Stabler went to Long Island because we have reason to believe that White holds Miss Cabot in his sister's house. They went to check it out. Detective Benson's captain and the technical assistance group try to locate Miss Cabot's cell phone, but we haven't heard from them yet."

"Wait a minute. My daughter is missing, and no one even tried to tell me? This no-good-for-nothing kidnapped my child, and no one even leaves a message?"

All three of them recognized that particular tone of voice, that special inflection only mothers knew how to produce. It never failed to make one feel at least slightly guilty. Cassandra was the first to recover.

"Oliv… Detective Benson and Colonel Carter didn't want to worry you. They hoped to get Alex back before you would find out. With your daughter right in front of you, safe and sound, hearing what had happened would not have been as hard," Cassie explained.

Caroline took a deep breath, "I can understand that. Does Arthur know?"

When the two young ADAs didn't respond immediately, she repeated her question, "Does the District Attorney know?"

"Yes Ma'am," Nick answered but didn't look up from his study of the floor.

"Good, then I will take that up with him."

Before Caroline had the chance to once again ask about the bound man on the floor hospital security stormed in, lead by Mario Tonnucio. Two of his men quickly put handcuffs around Kelles's wrists, hauled him face first onto a gurney where they put restraints on his ankles, over his waist and over his neck.

"The officer on guard duty outside is dead, a broken neck as far as I can tell. Who is this man, what happened here?" He asked.

"His name is Carl Kelles," Cassandra answered. "He should be on Rikers Island. I don't know how he managed to escape. He stormed in here, pushed Miss Finn and Mister Potter aside, and attacked me. I managed to push him back a bit, but he attacked again. Mister Potter took the dinner tray and knocked him out. That gave him and Miss Finn the chance to restrain him. Then we called you."

"How do you know this man?" Tonnucio asked.

Cassandra looked decidedly uncomfortable but then she found the eyes of the security guard and said calmly, "Last Thursday he beat and raped me and sold me to a serial killer to be his next victim."

"I'm sorry, Miss Fraiser. I'll leave two of my men to guard the door and we'll make sure that Kelles is held securely until the police once again take him into custody. We usually work with the 33rd precinct or would you like us to call someone else?"

"Please follow your usual procedure, but make sure that you also call Captain Donald Cragen of the 16th precinct, Special Victims Unit," Caroline said. "Would you also call down Professor Wolf. He will want to know what happened here. And thank you for your fast reaction."

"Thank you, Ma'am. I'll see to it. Should I give Professor Wolf a special message?" Tonnucio asked.

"Yes, tell him Caroline Cabot needs to speak with him."

He nodded and left.

-x-x-x-

Harry Wolf stormed into the room and took Alex' mother in his arms, "Caroline, Caroline, what's going on? My Chief of Security just told me something about an officer of the court kidnapped in my hospital and a rapist being captured in my goddaughter's room."

Caroline pulled him out to the corridor and filled him in. His exclamations of surprise and outrage told the others a lot about what they were talking. Then their voices got quieter and Christina used the opportunity to ask Cassandra about the modified version of what had happened she had given to Chief Tonnucio.

"Why didn't you tell him the truth? You shot the perp. I saw that strange gun."

For a moment Carl Kelles's face flashed through her mind, the expression distorted with hate as he kicked her in the ribs. She pulled the zat'ni'kitel from under her comforter and looked at it.

She kept her eyes on it when she began to speak. "I wanted to kill him. Just one more shot and he would have been dead and not only unconscious. It would have been so easy, just pull the trigger and everything would have been over."

"Why didn't you?" Nick asked.

"I didn't want him to win. It would have made me just like him," Cassandra answered. She put the weapon back under the comforter and looked directly at the young man, though he was not really sure if it was really him she was addressing.

"When I first came to Colorado Springs some of the children in school teased me because I was different. Coming from a rather rural part of Canada I was just different enough to make me appear odd. One day a couple of bullies pushed me around and when I came home I tried to find my mom's weapon to teach them a lesson.

"Sam caught me when I tried to break into the weapon's locker in the study. I expected her to get angry, but instead she sat me down and got me to tell her what had happened. She opened the weapon's locker and gave me a handgun after she had loaded it with a new clip. She gave it to me and asked me if I hated those boys and I said that I did. She told me that if I used the weapon I would be stronger than them and when I had killed them they would not bother me anymore. But then all the others who had never done me any harm would fear me because with using the gun this way I would have taken their place.

"Over the next few months Sam and the other members of her team taught me how to deal with provocations and how to defend myself, but I'll never forget her words: 'In life we sometimes have to make choices, Cassie, and those choices can define who we are, who we become as persons. Winning a fight is not worth the effort if the only way to do that is by becoming just like your enemy, by taking his place.' I didn't kill him because I would have ended up being just like him."

"Sorry, I didn't want to drift off like that," Cassie added. "About the weapon I used… Officially, that weapon does not exist and there's a chance that it never will. It would have been too difficult to explain how I got access to something like that. My Mum… Colonel Carter would get into trouble if someone found out that she left an experimental weapon in the hands of a civilian. That's why I told it the way I did. I know I can't force you to corroborate my story, but I would be very grateful if you did."

Christina and Nick exchanged a long look, then Christina nodded.

"We'll corroborate your story," Nick said and added with a half-smile. "It has the added bonus of making me out as the hero; that sure will be nice for a change. You see, about two months ago I was mugged and for weeks the whole office looked at me with pity and a few of them made fun of me behind my back. What you told the security guard will make me look really good and it has the benefit of being at least half true."

"Thank you," Cassandra said and squeezed his arm.

Before he or Christina had a chance to say anything Caroline Cabot and Professor Harry Wolf came in.

"Cassandra, Miss Fraiser, you probably know by now that I'm Alexandra's mother, my name is Caroline Cabot. This is Professor Harry Wolf, an old family friend. He has some influence here at Mercy Hospital. I just talked to Captain Cragen. He shares our concern that you might not be safe any longer here at the hospital. He agreed that it would be better if you stayed with me at our house in the Hamptons," Caroline said.

"Mercy Hospital will of course provide proper medical care," Harry Wolf added. "In other words, we'll send a doctor with you."

"Sam expects me to be here when she returns with Olivia and Alex. And with Kelles once again in police custody, I don't see any more danger coming my way," Cassandra answered with suspicion.

"I know you don't have any reason to trust us, Miss Fraiser, and I'm not really sure how to convince you that all we want is to keep you safe..." Caroline fell silent. "Sam, Colonel Carter, is out there to protect my daughter. I only met her for a few minutes yesterday but I know that she cares a lot for you. She would not have left you had she not been sure that you would be safe here, and with what happened earlier I'm no longer sure that's the case. Everyone can find out about a patient in a hospital with a few phone calls and a bit of hush money, and sooner or later your whereabouts will leak out to the press. With a case of this magnitude that's only a question of time, especially with what just happened. That man killed a police officer, that's bound to make waves."

"Give me a few minutes to think about it, Mrs. Cabot."

"Of course, dear."

-x-x-x-

Olivia's phone vibrated in her pocket. It was the signal that the men were in position at the other side of the house. She nodded towards Sam and they stepped through the front door. The big lobby was dominated by two curved stairs climbing up to the second level. Their ornate banisters didn't fit in with the understated elegance of the room. Olivia rolled her eyes and Sam shrugged her shoulders. On Goa'uld ships or their planets she had seen more atrocious interiors, but she had to admit that it looked as if someone with extremely bad taste had gone and put all of their talents into destroying a building of classical elegance and beauty.

They stepped into the next room where according to Sam's scanner all of the life signs in the house should have been situated. They only found two men standing with their back to them. A third man was leaning against a wall and stared at Alex, leering. There was no sign of the forth. Alex was seated on a simple chair, tightly bound. For a moment her eyes widened, but she showed no other sign of surprise. That was all Sam needed to see to know that the blonde attorney was really a fighter and that they could count on her not to panic.

Once again Sam and Olivia looked at each other. The men were far enough away from Alex not to try to use her as leverage immediately. So, they would stick to plan A. They had decided that Olivia would take the lead, and their first order of business was to focus the attention of the men on them and away from Alex and the entrance from the terrace.

"Gentlemen, we need to talk," Olivia said.

All three of them swirled around and stared at them. They were even too stunned to draw their weapons.

Robert took two steps towards them. When he saw that the others didn't move he shouted, "What are you waiting for? Get them!"

The other man raised his hand and the man who had been leaning on the wall stopped in mid-stride and returned to his place; his eyes, however, stayed focused on the intruders.

"Who the hell are you? And what do you want?" The other man asked.

"My name is Olivia, and what I want should be obvious," Olivia answered.

"My name is not important, but to make things easier you may call me Mr. X. So, I guess that I have something that belongs to you and you have something that belongs to me," he answered.

Olivia kept her eyes trained on him. Sam's eyes also seemed to be focused on the two men in front of them; in her peripheral vision, however, she saw how Nick silently took care of the third man.

It was too easy. Just like taking out the guards had been too easy. Something was not right. There was something she was missing, Sam thought. She had to keep her eyes open…

"I might have something you want, but you have someone who belongs to me, and if you have harmed even one hair of her head, I'll make sure that you'll regret it for the rest of your life, however long that may be," Olivia said.

It was not exactly the scenario they had agreed upon, but it seemed to work. And after Sam had seen Alex' bleeding lip she had known that Olivia would try to speed it up.

Elliot was cutting Alex' restraints while Nick and Marty were creeping up on Robert and the other man. Before they had a chance to grab them, all three men froze and a moment later a deep voice came from behind Olivia and her.

"Freeze, all of you. Hands up, bitches."

Sam judged by the voice that the man was about six or seven feet away. He also sounded a bit taller than herself. It was a risk but she had to take it. She had to give the others a chance to once again turn the tables.

Sam began to raise her hands, very slowly, and Olivia followed suite.

"That's good, bitches. Turn around, slowly, and now you can explain how you all managed to sneak in. We have guards out…"

The voice was closer now. That was her chance. Sam's gaze met Olivia's. Her eyes held the same determination she would have found reflected in a mirror. The two women didn't need words. They whirled around and launched themselves at the man.

He was as tall as Teal'c with muscled arms as thick as her thigh. Sam knew that she never would have been able to take him out alone, not even with her extensive fighting experience. With Olivia's help they not only managed to make him stumble; they brought him down and his weapon, a Desert Eagle, presumably a .357 flew out of his hand and skittered over the floor.

Marty jumped Robert and Nick Mister X. Elliot had freed Alex' hands and was now sawing at her leg restraints.

Alex observed with fear in her eyes how Robert knocked Marty back. He grabbed the gun that had skidded close to his feet and aimed it at Olivia's back, right at her heart. She sprang up and shouted Olivia's name. One of her legs was still bound to the chair. She lost her balance and fell. Before she hit the floor she saw that Sam pushed Olivia out of the way and simultaneously Robert pulled the trigger.

Olivia stiffened when Alex called her name. A moment later she was pushed to the side, hard. She heard the loud bang of a big caliber handgun at the same time she saw that Sam's body slammed into their prone prisoner. Sam cried out. Olivia saw the blood spurting from her right shoulder, but Sam didn't stay still. She was back on her feet in seconds, seemingly oblivious to the wound in her shoulder.

Sam felt the impact of the bullet. Pain was searing through her body and she cried out when she was propelled on top of the man who had surprised them from behind. Time seemed to shift into some sort of slow motion and suddenly even the sounds were dimmed. Falling down she saw that the bullet had traveled further after traversing her shoulder and was lodged in the man's forehead. He looked surprised when he exhaled his last breath. Instincts honed in countless off-world battles screamed at her to get up and neutralize the danger. She got back on her feet and looked in the direction from which the shot had come. Robert was turning around; his lips were moving but she couldn't hear him. He held the .357 in both hands. Elliot was helping Alex back on her feet and they both seemed to freeze in mid-movement.

Sam reached Robert in three long strides. She didn't feel or think, she just followed her training and instincts honed in hundreds of off-world battles and skirmishes.

Her left hand grabbed for the gun and forced it upwards just as another shot was fired, missing the top of Alex' head by only a few inches. Sam whirled him around. His face was contorted with rage and he seemed to be shouting. One of his hands let go of the gun and he punched it in her shoulder. She saw the hit coming and knew that she could have ducked it, but she didn't want to give up her tenuous hold on the weapon. She head-butted him just when his fist hit her still bleeding wound. She cried out but she didn't hear it, instead she saw with satisfaction blood running from his broken nose. Sam changed her hold on the wrist still holding the heavy gun and twisted as hard as she could, but he still held onto it. Despite the agony it caused her she managed to block another punch on her right shoulder with her right arm.

Robert's face in front of her was getting blurry. Sam knew she was running out of time, the big caliber had obviously damaged more than just tissue. She had to take him out, fast. She once again changed her grip on his right hand, no longer trying to get the weapon away from him. Instead she pulled as hard as she could, used her hip as a pivot point and threw him over her head. He landed on his back and suddenly the eerie silence in which the whole scene had played out was gone. She heard the crack of his shoulder joint and knew that it was at least dislocated. She heard Olivia and Elliot shouting her name. She heard how he pulled the trigger and felt something hot whiz past her ear. She finally got a hold of the weapon and knocked him out with the ivory handle.

Then the world around her started to spin. She knew she would fall but before she hit the floor she found herself cradled in Elliot's arms and Olivia was looking down on her with worried eyes. She heard that Olivia was shouting for an ambulance and tried to smile up at her but it must not have been very convincing.

"Keep still. Sam. You will be alright,." Olivia whispered.

"Tell the medics: no blood, no painkillers. Call Mel, she knows. Need to stop bleeding, artery nicked inside," Sam said and lost consciousness.

Olivia pressed one of her hands on the entrance and the other on the exit wound, but that didn't seem to slow down the blood loss. For the fraction of a heartbeat her mind flashed back to a similar situation three and a half years ago, only then she had not been kneeling on a carpeted floor but on the hard ground of a New York sidewalk, and the woman almost bleeding to death had been the love of her life, but seeing Sam like that hurt almost as much as seeing Alex that night had hurt. She couldn't give into that, not now…

"I need some help here. I need something to stop the bleeding. Where the hell is that damned ambulance?" Olivia shouted.

Alex and Marty were at her side a moment later. Alex simply squeezed her shoulder and said, "I'll get some towels and see if I can find some bandages and disinfectant."

"I saw her hit in the shoulder. It should not bleed that much," Marty said, and at Olivia's questioning look she added, "I was the medic of Beta Unit."

"She said something about a nicked artery before she passed out," Olivia answered. "An ETA on the bus yet?" She asked Elliot.

"They said something about fifteen to twenty minutes," he answered.

"She won't last that long. We have to do something. We have to keep her from bleeding out. I have to see the damage."

Alex returned with an armload full of towels. "I didn't even find a bottle of Tylenol or something. I'll look in the upstairs bathroom first."

"I'll do it," Nick said and stormed upstairs.

He had restraint the three men still alive, though he felt more like beating them to a pulp and breaking their neck. The last minute of the fight had been a blur to him. Not even in his best years had he been able to move as fast as Sam had, now he understood what Jack had meant when he had told him that Sam was 'A nerd with lethal combat skills and even deadlier instincts', and yet she didn't kill that rat bastard. She had not lost control…

Marty pushed one of Olivia's hands away and dabbed at the wound with a small hand towel in an effort to get an idea of the location of the damage.

"What can I do to help?" Alex asked.

Olivia handed Alex her cell phone. "Call Melinda, it's the number five on the speed dial. Tell her what happened."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	18. Chapter 18: East Hampton Memorial Hospit

**CH 18: East Hampton Memorial Hospital**

Doctor Martin had wrapped Cassandra's ribs and helped her in a pair of scrubs with a cut-off leg to accommodate the plaster cast. A bulk of medical equipment had already been put in the trunk of Caroline Cabot's limousine which was waiting right in front of the main entrance, under the no stopping sign. Cassie was sitting in a wheelchair pushed by Doctor Martin. She was trying not to grin at the crestfallen expressions of her new friends Nick and Christina when a call by the DA himself had ordered them back to the office. They had cheered up again when she had promised that they would be the first she would call should she have any news about Alex.

Captain Cragen had shown up and told them that the other SVU detectives were already on their way to Long Island to meet up with the local police. "Everything will be alright, I promise," he said before he had to meet with Captain Halloran of the 33rd precinct which had been called in by Hospital Security to take custody of Carl Kelles. He intended to personally make sure that the man didn't get another chance to escape.

Caroline seemed thankful of his words but Cassandra took them for what they were: wishful thinking. She knew that there were no guarantees and despite Janet's efforts to further her religious education she couldn't bring herself to believe in an almighty God who had allowed her people to be killed and who turned a blind eye to untold evil all over the universe.

After she had been loaded into the backseat of the limousine, Doctor Martin climbed into the passenger seat in front. After Caroline and Harry Wolf had entered and taken a seat facing her they drove off.

When they had been going for about five minutes Professor Wolf said, "You didn't seem too relieved at the captain's words, Miss Fraiser."

Cassandra debated with herself if she should give him an honest answer or go with something more politically correct.

"I know that in life there are no guarantees, Professor. I grew up with people who risk their lives on a daily basis. My adopted mother died under enemy fire though she should not have been in the field at all. It was supposed to be her day off. In the last nine years, since I came to America from the North Sam has cheated death too many times to count, and she still risks her life on a regular basis. I grew up with knowing that one of them could die any day and we all quickly learned to never make any promises we're not sure to be able to keep. I appreciate Captain Cragen's gesture and the intention behind it, but if I believed in such things I would see it as a bad omen. He's tempting fate."

"I didn't want to bring up any hard feelings or memories. I'm sorry, Miss Fraiser. My curiosity just got the better of me. I know from experience that a lot of people feel better if someone tells them that everything will be alright," Harry Wolf answered worriedly.

Cassie smiled at him, "You got me wrong, there are no hard feelings or bad memories, at least none that did not have also some sort of positive side. I don't know how much Sam told you about my past…"

"Alexandra and Doctor Warner told me that Colonel Carter, that Sam is your adoptive mother and that you lost your own parents in a car accident," Caroline answered.

"That's one of the bad memories with a good ending I spoke of. After my parents died I had no other family left and I could have ended up with social services, instead I found wonderful new parents and a host of dedicated uncles and all the love and care and support any child could wish for. I knew from the beginning that Sam and Mom, Janet Fraiser, would do everything in their power to keep me safe. Sam almost died simply because she didn't want me to die alone. If I sounded a bit bitter just now, that's more due to the fact that despite everything I said I can't help worrying. It's good to know the dangers, but it's hard to stand back. Ever since Mom died letting Sam go and risk her life has gotten so much harder. I'm sorry, I didn't want to whine," Cassandra said.

"You have every right to be worried, Miss Fraiser," Caroline said, "but Colonel Carter cares about you. I'm sure she could ask for a transfer to a less dangerous posting. I have friends in Washington. I could help."

"Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Cabot, but most of the time when Sam is called in to do something, there's no one else who could do it. She is more than just good at her job. For a while she was the Chief Science officer at a base and did only research but then something happened and they needed her again off ... out in the field."

"I think I understand. One does not send a butcher to do brain surgery," Harry Wolf said.

Cassandra smiled but before she could answer, Caroline Cabot's cell phone rang.

-x-x-x-

"Warner. Make it quick I'm in the middle of an autopsy," came the clipped answer.

"Melinda, it's Alex. We have a situation. Sam has been shot. She's losing a lot of blood, and the EMT is still at least another fifteen minutes out."

"What kind of weapon? Describe the wound."

Alex gave Melinda a short version of what had happened and described the wound as best as she could.

"You can't afford to wait for a bus, Alex. Get her to a hospital as fast as you can; and make sure that no one gives Sam any blood or plasma, under no circumstances. It would kill her. Let me know where you go, I'll commandeer a car and will be on my way in a few."

-x-x-x-

Alex and Olivia sprung up from their seats in the waiting area when Melinda stormed in, heralded by the familiar wail of a New York City patrol car. She didn't waste her time with small talk.

"Status?" She asked.

"Sam's in the OR, Melinda. Better go there too. I'm not sure that they will heed the warning I gave them about the blood. One of the doctors muttered something about pig-headed religious fanatics," Alex answered.

Melinda just nodded, approached the nurse station and was escorted through the double doors leading to the trauma and OR unit only a couple of minutes later. Both Alex and Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. They had been really worried about the attitude of the doctors; as if the transport to the hospital had not been scary enough.

Nick had taken a Jeep Cherokee out of the three car garage and they had carried Sam out. The bleeding intensified with every movement, so, Marty, as the medic of the group, had decided against using the helicopter. It was not equipped to transport trauma patients and would thus have done more harm than good. Alex had ended up on the backseat with Sam's upper body cradled in her lap. Marty had taken the passenger seat and Olivia had been behind the steering wheel. Elliot and Nick had waited for the local police to come and pick up Robert and the other perps.

Olivia had maneuvered the jeep as if it had not been three and a half years since she last had driven a vehicle on the roads of Long Island. They had spent a lot of time at the Cabot Estate in the Hamptons before Alex had been forced into witness protection, in fact every weekend they could get off at the same time which had been about one out of four. That knowledge had allowed her to find the fastest way to the East Hampton Memorial Hospital.

At the first bump in the road the hemorrhaging had intensified and Marty had told Alex to remove the towel she had used to try to stem the bleeding. Alex had swallowed. She had had a hard time not to get lost in the memory of how her own shoulder wound had felt all those years ago.

"We have to go to the source. Litigate the artery itself. When I cleaned the wound I could see it for a moment. You'll have to trust your sense of touch," Marty said.

Marty had verbally guided Alex' index finger and thumb to Sam's artery axillaries and had told her how to pinch it to reduce the blood flow – and it had worked, the bleeding had lessened considerably, actually it had been reduced to nothing more than a dribble.

About five minutes before they had reached the hospital Sam's blue eyes had fluttered open for a moment and she had whispered something that sounded like a name. After that her breathing had begun to even out to a degree that had let the ER team suspect that she already had fallen into a coma.

Alex came back to the present when Elliot and Nick briskly entered the waiting area. Both men obviously had washed up. Nick was wearing a clean but slightly too small T-shirt and Elliot was in a loaned T-shirt and sweatpants. Olivia filled them in on the little that they knew and also told them that Marty had left to take care of his helicopter still standing on the baseball diamond. The men told them that they already had given their statement and that Robert and his accomplices had been processed by the book. Fin and Munch would join them later at the hospital but were now on their way to the crime scene to 'assist' the local officers. Captain Cragen had arrived just before they had left to sort out the jurisdictional nightmare the rescue mission had created.

Before the men had any chance to sit down the doors to the main entrance opened once again. Cassandra was sitting in a wheelchair pushed by Doctor Martin and followed by Caroline Cabot and Professor Harry Wolf. She was visibly worried and the blood still staining Alex' and Olivia's clothing certainly didn't contribute to calm her down. But before she had a chance to ask questions Olivia was right in front of her.

"Sam is in the operating room, Cassandra. She was shot in the shoulder from behind with a big caliber hand weapon. She lost a lot of blood, but I'm sure that she will pull through. Sam is strong. Melinda, Doctor Warner, is back there to keep an eye on her. She'll be alright. She will come back to you," Olivia said. She knelt in front of the wheelchair and put her hands on Cassandra's uninjured knee.

Cassie saw the sincerity in Olivia's eyes, but she also saw fear and worry. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She whispered, "I wouldn't blame her if she chose to go, if she decided to join Mom."

"Sam wouldn't do that to you, Cass. She wouldn't. She loves you and she loves life. Sam will fight."

The young woman opened her eyes and gave Olivia a sad smile. She wanted to tell Olivia that she didn't know what she was talking about, that she didn't know what Sam had lost when her mother had died, that the moments she saw a genuine smile on Sam's face have been few and far between ever since Janet's death… She wanted to tell her….

Then her eyes fell on Alex standing closely behind the detective, and though she didn't know the whole story what she had seen of them together came close to the love Sam and her mom had shared, and Alex had been lost to Olivia as well. Olivia would know and she would understand. So, Cassandra didn't say anything but put her hands on top of Olivia's.

Moments later another set of hands was put on top of hers. It were Alex'. Cassie looked down into blue eyes very similar to Sam's and yet completely different. Olivia raised her hands and turned them palm up, and ensconced between the palms of two people who practically were nothing but strangers to her, Cassandra felt a sense of safety she had been missing since the moment Captain Cragan had called the limousine to tell them about the successful rescue and Sam being injured.

"Olivia is right, Cassie. Sam loves you, and she is strong. She even woke up on the way here and said something. It sounded like a name, a last name," Alex said.

"What name?" Cassandra asked.

"It sounded like Kelno or something," Alex answered.

"Kel'no'rem?"

"Yes, that's it."

"It's not a name. It's a breathing and relaxation technique. It slows down the heartbeat. That might just help her to survive."

Cassandra's voice had a hopeful undertone and Alex slightly squeezed her hands. For the next couple of minutes they didn't speak, just knelt there as if their touch would somehow magically protect all of them from harm. Finally Caroline Cabot broke the spell by tapping Alex on the shoulder.

"Go change and take a shower. Alexandra, please make sure that Olivia takes care of her stitches and bandages. Harry is arranging for a private suite of rooms for later and Doctor Martin is back there checking on Colonel Carter. While you and Olivia are gone Elliot and your silent friend over there," Caroline said with a short glance at Nick who until then had kept in the background, "can tell us, Cassandra and me, what happened in detail."

The tone of Caroline's voice made it clear that it had not been a request and despite themselves Alex as well as Olivia obeyed the order.

Cassandra gave the older woman a grateful smile and then turned her attention to Nick, "Sam told me about you, you're Uncle Jack's friend, Major Nick Farthington."

"Retired. I'm delighted to make your acquaintance, Cassandra Fraiser. Jack has told me a lot about you. He's very proud of you. And this is Detective Elliot Stabler. He's Olivia's partner. Mrs. Cabot, what do you want to know?"

"Captain Cragen gave me a rough outline of what happened, but I need to know all the details. I was told that Colo… Sam saved my daughter's life, and Olivia's. I'd really need to know what happened," Caroline said.

"The same goes for me, Major Farthington," Cassandra added. "Please take a seat."

-x-x-x-

The head nurse who had manned the ER desk led Alex and Olivia to a locker room at the end of the corridor and just outside of the ER area. It usually served as a changing room for the nurses and looked a bit like the changing and shower area at the one-six. The nurse opened the double doors of a closet which contained blue and green scrubs in different sizes, white coats, towels, toothbrushes and other toiletries.

"Here's everything you'll need, Miss Cabot," she said. "Lock the door behind me, so that no one will burst in on you. It's still about two hours 'til shift change, but one never knows. There are plastic bags on the lowest shelf to put your bloody clothes in."

"Thank you. Do you also have something to write on the bags? A marker or something?" Olivia asked.

"Here, but what do you need it for? I'm pretty sure that you know which clothes belong to whom, Miss …?"

"Detective Olivia Benson, Mrs…"

"Natalie Cameron, Detective, Nurse Cameron to most people," the woman answered.

"The blood on our clothes is evidence. It will corroborate our statements when the crime scene techs reconstruct the crime scene. I don't want those men to go scotch free because of a technicality."

"I understand. Take your time. I'll send someone to get you should there be any news on your friend but experience tells me that it will take at least another hour."

"Thank you, Nurse Cameron."

As soon as the older woman was gone Alex and Olivia began to undress with their backs to each other, suddenly uncomfortable with the other's presence. Olivia opened her slacks and let them fall to the floor. Mechanically she stepped out of them and pulled the dark blue shirt over her head without bothering to open the buttons first. She shuddered when the dried blood touched her face and froze when she finally looked at the discolored fabric.

The whole time she had been sitting in the waiting room, holding Alex' hand her mind had alternated between replaying what had really happened in the beach house and images of what could have happened. She saw Robert killing her from behind, saw herself propelled to the floor by the force of the bullet, saw out of the corner of her eyes how Robert turned around and shot Alex in the head.

There was so much blood on her shirt, so much blood… Suddenly she felt Alex' body wrap around her from behind. Two strong, slender hands gently closed around her own.

"Sam will survive, my Livia. She will pull through."

Alex pulled the shirt out of Olivia's unresisting hands and closed her arms around the muscular body, "Sam will survive."

"She saved my life, twice."

"Sam saved our lives, Liv. Now, that I have you back, I could not go on without you. I love you, Olivia Benson."

Olivia turned in Alex' arms, "I love you, Alex Cabot." She put enough distance between them to look her taller lover into the eyes. "Do you think that Cassie is right? That Sam does not want to survive? I know I wouldn't."

"Cassandra needs her. Sam will not give up."

"You can't know that for sure, Alex."

"Yes, I do, Liv. If you were killed in action and we had a daughter I would fight God himself to come back to her, because our daughter, regardless if by blood or by adoption, would be your legacy."

Olivia saw the love and conviction in Alex' eyes. She brought her head closer for a chaste kiss. They finished undressing and even managed to fill the plastic bags and label them. Then they walked the few steps to the shower stalls hand in hand.

As soon as the hot water pounded on her back, in total disregard of the stitches in her side and thigh Olivia allowed her tears to fall. She couldn't get her mind to stop imagining worst case scenarios in which not only Alex died but also Elliot and Sam. She felt Alex' eyes on her but didn't have the strength to turn around. Instead she whispered, "I need you," and by miracle or the strange acoustics in the stalls Alex heard her plea.

Olivia didn't resist when Alex turned her around and once again pulled her into her arms. With only two inches separating them Olivia was still too tall to comfortably fit under Alex' chin, but in the past after one difficult case or the other she would have let her chin rest on Alex' shoulder and lean her head against Alex'.

"Take me, Alex. Take me and make me feel alive. Let me feel that you're alive. I need to feel you inside of me."

Alex turned her head and kissed Olivia's temple. Olivia didn't move but Alex felt her body shudder at the simple contact. Alex gently turned her head and claimed Olivia's lips. And that's when the gentleness ended. Olivia opened her mouth and allowed Alex to enter with her tongue but she didn't stay passive. Soon her urgent need to be taken transformed in a need to take Alex. She returned the kiss with fervor and let her hands roam up and down Alex' back.

Alex squeezed one of Olivia's buttocks with one hand and sneaked the other between their wet bodies and entered her with two fingers. Olivia followed suite and soon they were thrusting in and out of each other.

It was more of a frantic coupling at first than making love but it fulfilled a need in both of them. It was primal and wild, but it also was more than that. There was a strong current of deep love underlying their energetic actions; and it didn't take long for that love to emerge and take over. They gently soaped each other up, washed each other, shampooed their hair, rinsed off, and gently dried each other; all without a single word between them. Only when Alex and Olivia each had found a pair of scrubs that fit and smiled at the unusual picture they made in a rather narrow floor to ceiling mirror they also found their voices again.

"I love you, my Livia!" / "I love you, my Lexi!" They said simultaneously.

-x-x-x-

Nick and Elliot had just finished their story when the two women came back from their shower. At the same time the surgeon in charge of Sam ordered her to be taken to the recovery room.

Not forty-five minutes earlier the red-headed woman and Melinda Warner had gotten into a shouting match. Melinda had entered the observation room looking down on the main OR to the sound of a heart monitor beeping in alarm. Sam's heart had arrested and it had taken them forever to reanimate her, at least from her point of view. She had breathed a sigh of relief when she had heard a faint but regular heartbeat, but that quickly had changed into outrage when she heard the surgeon in charge say that she no longer cared what that 'damned woman' believed in, she would not let her die. And then the woman had ordered an infusion of plasma to be administered immediately.

Melinda had stormed down to the operation room, barely taking the time to throw on a surgical gown and a pair of gloves. She had arrived just in time to keep the OR nurse from connecting the tube from the blood container to Sam's IV access. It had taken her quite some time and effort to convince the stubborn surgeon that it had nothing to do with religion or a cult, but that Sam's inability to have a transfusion had purely medical reasons. Melinda had stayed in the OR but Sam's life signs had still been far from stable. About ten minutes later Sam's heart had arrested a second time. The surgeon once again had been cursing in a way Melinda only had heard once before, by a very frustrated and exhausted Janet Fraiser.

The details of Cassandra Fraiser's medical file had flashed through her mind and suddenly she had known why Sam's reactions to the anesthetics had been so erratic. It had, however, taken another couple of minutes to convince the other woman to reduce the amount of sedative instead of increasing it; and from then on the surgery had been almost routine.

"The patient will be in the IC unit in about half an hour, and now I need a whole lot of answers. What I saw, what we did just now should not be medically possible. Considering the blood loss the patient should have died half an hour into the surgery. I need answers."

"The patient's name is Colonel Samantha Carter. Due to an accident about eleven years ago she now has a unique blood condition. That's why I kept you from giving Sam a transfusion or more anesthetics. She's unique in more than one way," Melinda said.

"She's more than just a patient for you, right?" The surgeon asked.

"Yes, and that's why I'll have to make sure that she'll pull through. Did you do the test I asked you about?"

"Yes, and though I hate to admit it, you were right. It would have killed the pa… Colonel Carter if we had given her any kind of transfusion. Unfortunately, as things stand now, the p… your friend will need more than a minor miracle to survive. With the amount of blood still left in her body it's a damned surprise that she's still breathing. And if we don't find blood from a compatible donor soon she will not survive the night; fluids alone won't do it."

"I know," Melinda answered, "and I know that I asked a lot of you; but I might have a solution for our transfusion problem. Colonel Carter's adoptive daughter was subjected to basically the same combination of chemicals, so, her blood just might be what will save Sam. Give me a couple of minutes to check it out."

So, Melinda returned to the waiting room and filled everyone in. And before she even had the chance to ask about it Cassandra crushed her hopes by telling her that though Sam's and her blood composition were similar, they still were not compatible.

Melinda looked at the young woman in front of her. She saw the devastation in her eyes, the despair; and once again the contents of Cassandra Fraiser's medical report flashed through her mind. There was only one option left.

"I need Sam's phone," she said. "It's the only way."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	19. Chapter 19: Night Watch

**CH 19: Night Watch**

Carolyn Lam stormed into General Landry's office without knocking, after having pushed his PA unceremoniously to the side, "I need an F-17 or something and a pilot. I need to go to New York. Sam has been shot. She needs her blood to survive."

"Start at the beginning, Doctor Lam," General Landry ordered.

His piercing eyes and tone of voice left no doubt that anything less than a completely professional approach would not get her what she needed. So, in the blink of an eye her attitude changed from worried friend to professionally detached doctor.

"I understand, Doctor," he said after Carolyn had reported what Melinda had told her on the phone only a couple of minutes earlier. "Go and make your preparations and wait top-side in the parking lot. I'll organize a ride for you. You have about half an hour."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Dismissed, Doctor, and Carolyn, tell Colonel Carter that we all have her back."

"Yes Sir."

The nurses had already transferred Sam's blood from storage to a cooler and had also prepared a bag with a change of clothes should Carolyn have to stay more than a day. She arrived at the parking lot twenty minutes after leaving her father's office and expected to be driven to the Academy and put on a plane East. But nothing happened.

-x-x-x-

Carolyn had been waiting for about five minutes when a strong gust of wind passed her by and moments later Colonel Mitchell appeared seemingly out of nowhere. At her visible surprise he pushed a button on some sort of remote control and an X-302 appeared right behind him.

"Your taxi awaits, Doc. Next stop, East Hampton Memorial Hospital, Long Island. You can fill me in on the way about what's going on," Cam said while he helped her to climb into the backseat of the X-302. "Judging from your face General Landry didn't prepare you what to expect. So, in case you want to know, I was preparing to test the new cloak for the X-302s. Sam sent the specifications for a cloaking device for those babies about two months ago in her weekly report from Atlantis. It took the geeks at Area 51 'til yesterday to get it installed and do the preliminary testing. I was about to break for a test run around the solar system when the general called."

"Then Sam might just contribute to save her own life," Carolyn answered and filled him in on what she knew about Sam's injury.

"Damn, some people have all the fun, fighting a serial killer and then a kidnapper all in less than a week and I've been stuck with boring diplomatic missions for the last couple of months," Cam grumbled with a boyish, good-natured smile.

Carolyn, however, had never been receptive to his special kind of charm, so, she said, "I'm sure Sam would have preferred years of boring missions to the fright and pain Cassandra has been through in the last week."

That seemed to sober him up, "You know that I would do anything in my power to spare Sam and Cassandra. I would change places with either of them if I could, Doc."

"I know, Cam, I'm just worried about her. Melinda Warner, the doctor who told me about Sam, she said that Sam arrested twice on the operating table. She was almost frantic on the phone. I'm afraid that even with the three-o-two we'll be too late," Carolyn answered.

She knew that Cameron Mitchell had a bit of a crush on Sam, possibly dating back to the time when he had recuperated in a hospital room after Antarctica, reading SG-1's mission reports. He even had asked her out on a date, Sam had told her, but had quickly backed up when she had reminded them of their professional relationship. Carolyn was sure that he still didn't have a clue that her reluctance had had more to do with the fact that Sam's heart still belonged to someone else and probably always would; a fact that also had taken her a couple of weeks to accept and a couple more to turn her infatuation with one Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter into a friendship.

Caught up in her musings she almost missed Cam's reply, "Don't worry, Doc. We'll make it. Sam also sent some ideas on how to make the 302s fly faster. The modifications focus on the hyper drive engines but they also should give atmospheric flight quite a bit of a boost. We'll be there in far less than an hour, after all I'm under orders to test the new features to the max."

And for once Cam had not been kidding: forty-three minutes after they had taken off at Cheyenne Mountain they landed on the helipad of East Hampton Memorial Hospital. Cam helped Carolyn and her heavy cooler out of the still cloaked X-302.

"Thank you, Cam. I'll call as soon as I know more about Sam's condition. Thanks for the ride."

"It was my pleasure, Doc."

-x-x-x-

It was late in the night when the door to Sam and Cassandra's room opened quietly. Four hours earlier the energy driven Doctor Lam had appeared almost out of nowhere and probably saved Sam's life with much needed compatible blood. Sam's vitals had quickly started to stabilize and Carolyn had used the momentary relief of all the people waiting for good news to send everyone to bed, at least she tried.

There had been an older gentleman and a lady who promised to return early the next morning. An older, bald man had shooed two others, a black man and a tall, skinny guy in a suit out of the waiting area. They had all been wearing badges; so she presumed that they had been part of the team that had rescued Cassandra. When Daniel had told her about Cassie's injuries he had been rather vague on the details of the rescue mission, and Melinda had been too worried about Sam to give her more than the backbones of the story on how Sam had gotten hurt. Another tall man with Marine tattoos on his arm, wearing a too tight T-shirt had refused to leave with the others until a dark-haired woman in scrubs had quietly talked to him. He had hugged her and promised to be back as soon as possible.

That had only left Cassandra, another woman in scrubs, a blonde, and Doctor Warner. Cassandra had wanted to sit with Sam as she had done quite a couple of times when Sam had been at the short end of an Ori weapon but Carolyn had pushed the beds closer together and convinced her that she should at least lie down. It had not taken long for Cassie's eyes to close. Carolyn then had adapted the medication in her IV-drip to make sure that she got at least twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep. Olivia and Alex, the two women, on the other hand had adamantly refused to even consider getting some rest as long as Sam was not completely out of danger. Alex, the tall blonde, had only relented when the other woman's leg had begun to twitch and Doctor Warner ushered them into an adjoining room.

Carolyn turned around at the sound of the door, "Doctor Warner, you should be fast asleep."

"I grabbed a couple of hours in the on-call room. I was too restless to return to sleep and thought you would like some coffee. One of the night nurses made it and it's actually pretty good."

Melinda handed Carolyn a steaming mug, "Thank you, Doctor Warner."

"Sam trusts you. Call me Melinda."

"Carolyn. How are Alex and Olivia?" Carolyn asked just to say something.

"Sleeping. Curled up in each others arms on one of the beds. Olivia was injured when we found Cassandra Fraiser, in the leg and the side, and her storming off to find and free Alex has aggravated her injuries, but of course she's too damned stubborn to even take a simple painkiller. Well, now that she has Alex back, that might change."

"I hear a whole story behind that statement, and since there's nothing better to do, would you fill me in? And while we're at it, I'd really like to know the whole story on Cassandra too."

"Where to start? For me it started on Friday afternoon when a Jane Doe was found in an alley off Hudson Street. The uniforms were quick to ID her as Cassandra Fraiser from a wallet found on the body. I took the usual samples and wrote a preliminary report. A few hours later we got back a positive ID for Cassandra Fraiser but the few details that were in the report we got didn't match my body and I refused to accept the ID and sent out a request asking for more information. When I returned to duty on Monday I had already half a dozen voice mails from a pissed-off ADA who insisted that I'd finally make a positive identification. I decided to ignore it 'til the detectives of the one-six had a chance to find out more. And shortly before lunch Olivia came in and told me that she had been found by someone who could ID my Jane Doe. You can't imagine how surprised I was when I recognized my old friend Sam Carter."

Melinda proceeded to tell Carolyn everything from her perspective, what she didn't tell her was how crucial Sam's 'help' at the scene had been for Olivia's survival. Sam had asked her to tell no one and she wouldn't break her confidence, even if her gut told her that Carolyn could be trusted.

About two hours later Melinda had finished her story and Carolyn thanked her for telling her. She pushed a strand of hair out of Sam's face and looked at her with sadness and admiration as if she wanted to say, 'Oh, Sam, what you put yourself through…'

"Are you in love with Sam?" Melinda couldn't stop to ask when she saw her expression but at the deer-in-the-headlights reaction she got, she immediately tried to take it back.

Then Carolyn smiled, "Who wouldn't be? No, seriously. When I first came to the base I was in awe of Samantha Carter, of all the things I read about her while preparing for my new post. When I saw her for the first time I fell in lust. She gently let me down, but I still wouldn't push her off my bed should she be so inclined. It took me a while to see behind the façade of logic and science and bravery and see the beautiful soul. I could have fallen in love with her then but at that time I already knew that I didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. Eventually we became friends and I never would do anything to jeopardize that."

"Thank you for being honest. You know, I met her during the first Gulf war."

Carolyn's expressive face changed once again as she recalled the details of the injuries Sam had sustained in the Gulf listed in her medical file.

"Sam let you in," Carolyn stated simply.

"She didn't tell me all of her sorrows and secrets but she let me in as far as she could. At the time Sam was emotionally very guarded and there were not many people she allowed to see behind the tough flyboy image she had created for herself. Though from the few things she told me and from what I've seen of her that has changed quite a bit. I got the impression that she's more open now."

"Sam still does not confide easily but she inspires confidence. Before she went to At…. to run her new base she was the one a lot of people came to with their personal problems and though she didn't mince her words, they always seemed to help," Carolyn answered.

"Is this how the two of you became friends?"

"Yes, in a way. When I started to work at the base my father and I didn't get along very well. He resented that I had taken my mother's last name when I turned eighteen and I resented that he had never been there when I was growing up, my Mom could as well have been a single mother. Sometimes our discussions turned ugly and spilled over into our professional relationship, and I was a real bitch to everyone else whenever that happened.

"One day my staff had had enough of my irascible mood and sicced Sam on me. She dragged me out of the office and into one of the gyms. She sent everyone else out and ordered me to hit her. I refused, she repeated the order and told me that it would help me to get rid of my anger and frustration. I replied that she was not a sandbag and she said, 'And neither are your nurses and your other staff, Doctor Lam. Do no harm doesn't only apply to the patients.'

"Her words hit me like a ton of bricks and before I knew how I was telling her all about my problems with my father. It took more than one conversation but Sam helped me to stop seeing my father with the eyes of an angry child. And the most amazing thing was that she encouraged me to try though her own relationship with her father had been anything but good, from what I heard."

"Sorry, but you lost me there somehow. What kind of professional relationship do you have with your father and what does that have to do with Sam's Dad?" Melinda asked.

"Sorry, I should have said that earlier. My father is General Landry, the commanding officer of the base, and Sam's father's also a general, Major General Jacob Carter. Sam rarely talks about him but from what she told me it…. I guess that would be her story to tell."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Sam deserves to have a happy family life," Melinda said softly and let one of her hands rest on Sam's uninjured shoulder.

"Sam has an extended family that would do anything for her. It consists of Air Force officers, Marines, civilian scientists, a doctor or two," Carolyn said with a grin towards Melinda, "and she has Cassandra. Cassandra needs her and that's what will make her fight to stay alive."

"Cassandra fears that she will not, fight, I mean; that's why she didn't want to leave her side," Melinda said. "Before your arrival she said to Olivia that she wouldn't blame Sam if she decided to join her Mom, Janet, in death."

"Sam loves Janet Fraiser. She always will. I only met her a few times before she was killed in action. She was brilliant, beautiful, courageous, and she had an enormous love for life. The stories about her that are still told on the base are the stuff of legend. When Sam talks about her you can see the love shining in her eyes." Carolyn took a deep breath. "Now, why don't we go and try to talk that nurse out of another cup of coffee?"

Melinda took the change of topic for what it was and decided to play along, "Works for me. And while we do that you can tell me about a meditation technique Cassandra mentioned earlier, kelnoram, or something."

"Kel'no'rem? Why would Cassie mention that? It's a meditation technique some of our personnel learned from an ally. In times of combat it can take the place of sleep. It is deeply relaxing and restorative," Carolyn answered while they walked along the corridor.

"It was the last word Sam said before she completely lost consciousness."

"So, she was able to put herself in a state of kel'no'rem? That's good news. It ups her chances considerably," Carolyn answered.

"I still don't understand. I didn't want to say it front of the others, but the levels of her vitals are indicative of a coma. I should have seen earlier that this little tidbit didn't faze you."

"Sam is special, Melinda. And I apologize that I didn't tell you earlier. The first time we had the chance to record the vitals of our allies we also thought that they were in some sort of coma. I'd like to hear your take on it, but unfortunately it's classified. All I can say is that though it might look like a coma it helps with the healing process, and it will make her wake up sooner."

"Any idea on how soon?" Melinda asked.

"I can't say for sure, Melinda. Judging from previous experiences and Sam's medical file I would guess thirty-six hours to two days. However, Sam never ceases to surprise me."

Before Melinda had a chance to reply a tall man in a dark blue jumpsuit ran towards them, "Hey Doc, we have to go."

"Calm down, Cam. First let me introduce you. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Doctor Melinda Warner, Sam's physician."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor Warner," Cam said and dragged Carolyn a couple of feet away to debrief her.

He didn't take into account that they still were too close for Melinda not to tune in on their conversation, though she only could make sense of some of it.

"Listen, there's a situation at the mountain. Landry called a lockdown. Some sort of viral infection brought in by SG-8. We'll have to sneak in via the hatches."

"Alright, let me talk to my counterpart and we can go," Carolyn said and turned back to Melinda. "I'm sorry, Melinda. I have been called back to the base, another emergency. I'll leave the six bags of Sam's blood that are still left with you. She'll probably need at least another four before her blood pressure returns to normal."

After a moment's hesitation Carolyn pulled a memory stick out of her jeans pocket, "The stick contains Sam's complete medical history. I trust you not to show it to anyone else, but you might need the knowledge should there be complications of any kind. Consider everything in there as highly classified."

Melinda took the stick, "I will, thank you. But why are you doing this? You could get into big trouble giving classified information to a civilian."

"Sam is worth the risk and she trusts you. She doesn't place her trust lightly. Sam paid a higher price than most of us for doing the work we do. She deserves better," Carolyn answered.

"I'll take good care of her, Carolyn. I promise. Sam has made quite a few friends in the few days she's been here. We'll take good care of her and Cassandra."

"Thank you," Carolyn said and squeezed her arm in parting.

Melinda followed the two officers with her eyes until the elevator doors closed behind them and returned to Sam's room, intent on taking Carolyn's place at her bed. The memory stick, however, was burning a hole in her pocket. Carolyn would not have trusted her with it if she had not wanted her to read what's on it. Melinda told herself that she had to be prepared for every eventuality. So, she went to the nurse's station and borrowed a laptop.

Some of the things she read were just too incredible to believe but blood tests and MRI scans don't lie. It was more than just a miracle that Sam not only was still alive but apparently sane after everything she had been through. Melinda knew that she probably never would get a chance to find out the whole story behind Sam's numerous injuries. She was more than just intrigued and at the same time she was horrified by the thought of the real danger Sam evidently had accepted as part of her everyday routine. She couldn't put a finger on it but Melinda instinctively knew that what Sam had to deal with was more than a normal war.

She regularly checked on Sam whose vitals were slowly but steadily improving. Carolyn and her supply of Sam's blood had come just in the knick of time. A shiver ran down her spine at the thought that her friend would be dead by now if the other doctor had taken only a few hours longer to find her way to Long Island. Melinda also instinctively knew that it would be better if she didn't spend too much time thinking about how Carolyn could have made it from Colorado Springs to the hospital in less than two hours. It probably was as classified as the medical file she was reading.

-x-x-x-

When the nurses began their morning rounds Melinda decided to get some sleep herself, but she didn't get to enjoy more than two hours when the sound of her cell phone ringing woke her up again. It was the CSU lab and when they told her about their problem all thought of sleep was instantly forgotten. She had them rerun the tests, just in case, but her lab techs were good. It was highly unlikely that they had made a mistake.

Yes, the crime scene had been an old abandoned warehouse but modern technology allowed to differentiate between different DNA patterns in a single sample. No, they would not have called her had they not been sure. What intrigued them was the fact that the two DNA panels they had found, though very similar, were also highly incompatible and the fact that they had been unable to filter out the contamination in the second sample.

Melinda had them send the file over and promised to deal with it, but she also told them to try and find another logical explanation for the strange anomaly. In the pit of her stomach she already knew the real explanation. She just didn't want to believe it.

She needed proof. So, she fortified herself with some liquid courage in the form of more coffee and compared the DNA on record with an old one from Sam's medical file, from the time she had just started to work at Cheyenne Mountain. And there was no doubt, but what now? Should she keep it to herself? Could she even do that? But they deserved to know the truth, they both did.

-x-x-x-

As soon as Cassandra woke up she claimed her seat next to Sam's bed and held her hand. Sam would be able to feel the contact and her presence if she really had been able to initiate a state of kel'no'rem. If only she had been able to make the healing device work on Sam…

Yesterday evening, after Melinda had made the call to the SGC to ask for Carolyn's help, Melinda had taken her aside and asked about the alien device, though she, of course, didn't know that it was of alien origin. The doctor had even tried to make it work; and then she had tried it. She had felt how the naqadah in her blood stream had answered the call of the healing device, but when she turned it towards Sam nothing had happened. She had remembered that Alex favored her right side and winced slightly whenever she moved too quickly. As a med student that had told her that she must have at least some bruised ribs. So, she had asked Melinda to call Alex in, and the healing device had easily sprung to life and healed the two cracked ribs.

Cassandra smiled remembering the lecture Melinda had given Alex about not taking care of herself and being too stubborn for her own good and that she should rat her out to her mother or at least sick one of the hospital's physicians on her. It had been hilarious how Alex had blanched at the thought of being lectured by her mother. She had giggled and Olivia had grinned, but not for long. Melinda had also read Olivia the riot act for being irresponsible and careless with her health, but before the doctor had had a chance to include her in her tongue lashing Carolyn had arrived…

Cassie stayed steadfastly at Sam's side, during the late morning check-up, during lunch, during the afternoon check-up. Sam's vitals were still slowly improving and her blood pressure had reached an almost normal level. And all the time she had a steady stream of visitors. As per the doctor's orders they came one by one and never stayed long. Cassandra was still marked by her own ordeal and fell asleep shortly after the afternoon check-up. Doctor Martin and a nurse put her in bed and Olivia took her place at Sam's side, a thoughtful expression on her face.

-x-x-x-

Alex was pacing in the small park behind East Hampton Memorial Hospital and waited for someone in her office to pick up the phone. She was wearing jeans and a woolen sweater over a long-sleeved T-shirt her mother had brought in this morning together with other necessities.

Finally, at the twelfth ring, someone at the other end picked up. Alex recognized the voice and froze in mid-step. She had been all but prepared to read whomever the riot act for making her wait that long but those words died in her throat.

Instead, she blurted out, "What are you doing in my office, Sir?"

"Someone has to clean up your messes, Alexandra," Arthur Branch said with amusement tinting his voice.

Alex, however, had only heard his words and not his attempt at humor and simply asked, "Do I still have a job to come back to, Arthur?"

"Alexandra Cabot, you should know me better. Miss Rossi, would you please leave me for a moment. Now, Alexandra, if your job were in jeopardy Jim Steele would have answered your phone," Branch said.

"And where exactly does that leave us, Arthur?" Alex was beginning to regain her equilibrium but was still not sure what to make of his words.

"It leaves us with you on leave, for now at least. I don't want you anywhere near Hogan Place until this whole mess with Robert White has been sorted out. By the way, he has been indicted without remand this morning and Langan refused to represent him. And I hear that he has some difficulties to find anyone else good enough to get him out of this mess."

"Who's going to represent the people in his case?" Alex asked.

"I do. I want this bastard under lock and key. And no, I'm not only getting involved because this is about you. This morning I had a call from Washington, from the Chief of Staff. He told me that the cases involving Colonel Samantha Carter are of interest to the President and that he wants to be kept in the loop. He also asked for discrete updates on her physical condition."

"Colonel Carter has yet to regain consciousness but her vitals have stabilized. Her life's no longer in danger. Mel… Doctor Warner and the other physicians here want to give her another thirty-six hours at least before they try to wake her up," Alex answered.

"And how is Detective Benson?"

Branch's question surprised Alex, and she was tempted to call him on his uncharacteristic display. She knew all too well that he had never warmed to Olivia, but she kept her answer mostly neutral, "Olivia will be fine, according to Doctor Martin she suffered a minor setback due to her involvement in my rescue but with a couple of weeks of physical therapy she soon will be back on duty."

"That's good to hear. She's an exceptional officer," anticipating Alex' surprise at this statement he added, "My reservations against her were never about her job or her job performance but more about her relationship with you."

"Don't even go there, Arthur. She gave me a ring, and now that we are back together I will not give her up and I will not even try to hide the nature of our relationship as if it were something to be ashamed of."

"And I won't ask you to, Alexandra. I know that's an argument I can't win. I always wanted you in the DA's chair, preferably as my direct successor, even before you had to hide from Velez. I still do, and one day soon we will talk strategy, when the current mess is over. And talking about a mess. Casey Novak will come by tomorrow and get you up to speed on the Williamson and the Kelles case. It's a jurisdictional nightmare."

"The Feds?"

"The US Attorney General, the District Attorney of Chicago, the District Attorney of Philadelphia and half a dozen other cities he mentioned in his confession to Colonel Carter. I'll have a better idea on how this will go down by tomorrow."

"Is there anything I can do to help from this end, Arthur?"

"No, not at the moment. Just relax. Grab your detective and spend some time at the family estate. With White, Williamson and Kelles combined this will be a circus. You'll both need as much rest as you can get. And, Alexandra, I'm glad that you have found happiness again, even if it is politically inconvenient."

"Thank you, Arthur," Alex said.

"I'm stubborn, not stupid, Alex," Arthur answered with a snicker and ended the call.

Alex pulled her cell phone from her ear and stared at it as if it were a living entity. She was confused, to say the least. Twilight Zone, she thought, I must somehow have ended up in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Alex shock her head and decided to clear her mind with a cup of coffee.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	20. Chapter 20: Secrets Revealed

**CH 20: Secrets Revealed**

Alex entered Sam and Cassandra's room with two cups of Starbucks in her hands and found Olivia alternatively staring at two print-outs and the peaceful face of the blonde woman lying in the bed next to her. So, she put the coffee on a side table, knelt in front of Olivia, took the papers from her, and put them on the nightstand.

"You'll make yourself sick staring at those things. I don't care whose daughter you are, my Liv. The only thing that counts is who you are. That's who I fell in love with, with whom I'll always be in love.

"Do you remember the first night we spent together, after the Guan trial, when you told me about who fathered you?" Olivia nodded. "Do you also remember what I told you then?"

Olivia's brown orbs found Alex' blue eyes, "How could I not, my Lexi? It was the night you told me you loved me for the first time, the night I cried in your arms, the night you held me tight, the first time I started to believe…"

Alex stretched far enough to put a gentle kiss on Olivia's lips. She settled back down but her eyes still held Olivia's, "Tell me, my love."

"You always saw beyond the surface with me, Lexi. I just don't know what to do. I thought that I had made my peace with my mother's rape and with not knowing who it was. I thought that even if one day by some freak chance I should find out, that it would not affect me any longer, but it does. Ever since Melinda told us I feel lost. I don't know what to think or to feel. Part of me wants to mark this as a snafu at the lab and just go on, but I also know that I cannot do that. It would follow me and nag at me – and DNA doesn't lie. Help me, Lexi. I need an unbiased opinion."

Alex pulled the chair standing close to Cassandra's bed over, "I'm not sure if I can give you that, love. Ever since you told me, I've wanted nothing more than to find the man who raped your mother and strangle him, slowly, because he deprived you of the childhood you deserved. I entertained fantasies of cutting off his genitals, but then I realized that you wouldn't be the wonderful person you are if not for what he did to your mother. You might have become a teacher or a psychiatrist or an Air Force Officer, and we might never have met; and without you I would have lost myself in those other identities the FBI made me assume during witness protection. I am biased; I love you just the way you are."

"I love you, too, my Lexi," Olivia answered. "And I love that you're still biased, but I still don't know what to do. A part of me wants to confront Sam with what her father did, a part of me wants to spare her the knowledge that a father she probably idolized once raped my mother, and a part of me wants to hate her, but I can't, and not only because she saved my life. She doesn't deserve this. She has been through enough crap."

Alex just held her lover's hands and let her vent, "Earlier that day, right after Cassandra had fallen asleep I helped the nurses to give her a sponge bath. They only let me stay because I told them that I was family, but at the time I was not ready to believe it. Her body is littered with scars, and I've seen enough to recognize stab and gun shot wounds. The better part has almost completely faded, but if you know what to look for it's easy to see. And I just know that there's a story of pain and loss connected to every single one of them. I don't want to hurt her any further, Alex."

"Oh, Liv, you're so incredible. Do you even know what you're just doing?" At Olivia's blank stare Alex added, "All you think about is how to protect Sam, not about finding justice for yourself. For all you know her father, your father could still be alive, and though the statute of limitations is up with the DNA evidence you still might have a good chance in civil court."

"That's not what I want, Alex, and you know it, don't try to play shrink with me. All I want is to look that man in the eyes and ask him why. I want him to face the consequences of his actions. It's what I wanted ever since I was old enough to understand what rape means."

Olivia looked into Alex' deep blue eyes and decided to come completely clean, "There was a time when I dreamed about making my mother's rapist suffer. I wanted to make him as afraid and helpless as she had felt, as she has made me feel, but then there was this case. It was one of the first cases I worked with Elliot. A cab driver had been found stabbed behind the wheel, his genitals cut off. It turned out that he had been a war criminal from Serbia who had raped dozens of women and killed men and children. Two of his victims had recognized him and taken the law into their own hands. One of them had a little boy, five years old, from the war criminal.

"My mother was still alive then and we talked about the case. I told her that I wished I would have been in the cab with them. She answered that she understood their motifs but that she didn't condone their actions. I asked her if she would not do the same if she had the chance. I'll never forget what she said then. She asked about the little boy. She said, 'Is he going to be better off with his mother in prison? Do you think you would have been better off with me in prison the whole time you were growing up?' I told her that I hate the man who raped her and she answered, 'So do I — and if he hadn't, you would not be here.'

"No, Alex, I don't want revenge. I just want to know," Olivia said with silent tears glistening in her eyes.

Alex took her in her arms and held her. Olivia visibly relaxed but she still didn't know what to do. It was as if Alex were reading her mind, "You'll find the right answer when the time is right, my Liv, and according to the doctors we'll have at least twenty-four hours before there's even a chance of Sam waking up."

"You're right. There's still time."

Before Olivia had the chance to say more a nurse opened the door and rolled a wheelchair in with a visibly exhausted Cassandra Fraiser. She helped the young woman into bed and she was asleep as soon as her head hit her pillow.

"The first session of physical therapy is always the worst," the nurse explained. "And now, Detective Benson, it's your turn. The sooner we get started the sooner we get an idea on when you'll be able to return to active duty."

She gestured for Olivia to take a seat in the wheelchair and predictably Olivia told her that she was true and well able to walk on her own.

"Yes, you might, Detective, but you will not. And believe me after the therapy you will be glad at not having to walk back, besides, it's hospital policy."

Olivia glared at her but gave in when she saw Alex' amused smile. So, she changed seats but didn't let go of Alex' hand – and of course Alex got the unsubtle hint.

"I hope you don't mind if I tag along." It was less a question than a statement.

The nurse just shrugged her shoulders and they left. As soon as the door had closed behind them a pair of blue eyes opened and stared at the ceiling.

-x-x-x-

Emerging from a state of kel'no'rem is not like waking up from sleep. In kel'no'rem one always has an at least distant awareness of one's surroundings and coming out of it usually happens fast as if the world was rushing back into existence. This time had been different. This time it had been a slow rise to consciousness. With every breath she had felt and smelled and heard a bit more, and for a while all she had been able to do was to try and breathe through the pain emanating from her shoulder and chest and radiating out towards the rest of her body. She had wanted to take stock of her physical condition before alerting anyone that she was awake, before she would have to let the doctors do their thing. And then she had heard the door and had listened in on Alex' and Olivia's conversation.

Sam felt like a coward for not letting them know that she had been awake but what she had heard had shocked her. Could it be true? Could her father have been a rapist? It took her a couple of minutes to roll over far enough to grab the pieces of paper still lying on the nightstand.

She was glad that there were no witnesses because her hand started to shake when she saw with her own eyes what she had just heard. There was no doubt about the truth of their words. As Olivia had said, 'DNA does not lie'.

Most people would probably have refused to believe the scientific evidence in her hands but to Sam it was undisputable. The first panel had been done by Janet Fraiser a couple of months before Hathor had tried to take over Stargate Command, and the second had been signed by Melinda Warner. Almost half a lifetime had passed since they first had met, but if there was one thing Janet had taught her it was to trust her heart and her instincts. Her heart and her instincts told her that Melinda Warner, former of the USAF medical corps, was still to be trusted.

No, there was no doubt: Olivia was her half-sister. Olivia Benson and Samantha Carter had the same father, a father who had brutally raped Olivia's mother.

For a moment Sam closed her eyes. A big part of her tried not to think about the consequences of what she had just learned, but she also knew that she couldn't ignore them. A wave of pain raced through her when she put the printouts down. She allowed herself to wallow in it like in a just punishment and then pushed it back in a corner where it wouldn't bother her for a while.

In her mind one question raced the next: Why had he raped Olivia's mother? Had she been the only one? Had her mother known? Was that what her parents' fights had been about? Would her brother know more about that time?

He was five years older; he might remember something. That, however, would also mean telling him the truth, and regardless of how much he had butted heads with Jacob Carter, deep down he still idolized his father, the war hero. Sam was sure that he wouldn't believe her, not even with scientific evidence.

It took a bit of maneuvering to pull her laptop out of her bag without crying out at the pain from her shoulder, but as soon as it had booted up the cold case section of the NYPD database quickly gave up the files of Serena Benson and two other women that fit the time frame and the modus operandi. She copied them to a protected section of the hard drive, not really sure yet what to do with them or about them. Sam knew that Olivia's mother was dead; it was in her personal files. The other two women, another inquiry quickly told her, were still alive. They deserved to know who had violated them, who had raped them. But that still didn't answer the question 'why?'

Sam took a deep breath. There was only one person she knew who had been friends with her father at that time: General George Hammond.

She fished the Blackberry out of her bag and dialed his number. It went directly to voicemail and she left a message to call her back as soon as possible. She also told him that she had some questions about her father.

-x-x-x-

The phone's display also told Sam that she had missed three calls from Daniel. She listened to the increasingly worried messages the last of which had been sent when she had still been in surgery. She was pretty sure that someone must have filled him in on her status by now and that he didn't expect her to call back any time soon but she needed someone to distract her from those peskily persistent thoughts about her father.

He picked up after only two rings. "Sam, is that you? Are you alright?"

"A bit banged up, Daniel, but I'm fine. It needs more than a bullet through the shoulder to kill me. It feels like I'll need some physical therapy but I'll be back at the shooting range and in the gym in no time."

"You're channeling Jack again. Sam, you just barely hopped off death's shovel this time. Carolyn said that she had been just in time with your blood, two or three hours more and you would not have made it. She also said that you'd probably be unconscious for another day or two. Please, don't be so cavalier about that. You scared the shit out of me," Daniel said.

"Hopped off death's shovel? Where did that expression come from?"

"One of the PAs at the IOC is from Germany. She recommended a few books. Might stem from one of those," Daniel answered somewhat evasively.

"And did your flirting get you the information you were after?" Sam asked teasingly.

"I didn't need to flirt. You know how Jack hates it when I do that. She was very cooperative on her own as soon as she got clued in on what I was after. It seems she's not happy with the way her bosses do their jobs. So, she was forthcoming enough to give Jack and General Landry enough ammunition to turn the meeting of Joint Chiefs and IOC from a 'let's-crucify-Carter' session into a serious questioning of IOC procedures and motifs. That's one of the reasons I called earlier, but since then there have been new developments.

"It seems that someone brought the whole thing to the attention of President Hayes, and Jack swears that he had nothing to do with it, though he admitted that he tried. The president called a stop to the meeting, requisitioned all the paperwork and protocols and ordered the IOC representatives, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Jack and General Landry to a meeting at the White House Monday afternoon."

Silence was his only answer, and from almost everyone else it would have worried Daniel but he knew Sam, he knew how her mind worked; so, he gave her the time she needed to order her thoughts.

"Daniel, do you have a fax number or email address where I can reach General Landry?"

"No, not at the moment, but I'm sure Major Davis knows how to reach him at a moment's notice. Why? You don't intend to do something stupid like resigning your commission?"

"It's the easiest way to make sure that Jack and General Landry won't get in trouble over something I did, knowing the possible consequences. The IOC gets what they want and will leave the rest alone. It's better for everyone."

Sam pulled the phone far away from her ear not to be deafened by the outcry, "Are you completely nuts? Did you hit your head? What about Atlantis? They need you; they love you. And Earth? We need you too. Without you to inspire them the science department at the base is nothing but a wasteland, and the only significant advances Area 51 has made have been due to ideas and schematics sent by you. By the way, the cloak for the X-302s is working great."

"That's good to hear. Who checked it out?" Sam asked, intend on keeping him from returning to their former subject.

"Cam did. He was on a test flight when General Landry called him back to give Carolyn a lift to Long Island last night."

"Wait a minute, Carolyn was here? When?" Sam asked and immediately berated herself for that lapse in concentration. Daniel had just told her that Carolyn had brought the blood conserves she still kept at Cheyenne Mountain.

"Didn't anyone fill you in, yet? I thought this Melinda Warner is your friend."

"Melinda is my friend, Danny, but she doesn't know that I'm awake, no one does. I need some time to myself before I face the doctors and the police and who knows whom else. So, what happened?"

Daniel told her everything he knew, in detail, from the transport to the hospital in the borrowed SUV to her arresting twice on the operating table and from Carolyn's arrival at East Hampton Memorial to her being called back due to an emergency that had turned out not to be an emergency at all but the monumental mistake of a lab tech.

Sam thanked him and then asked if there had been any problems with the cloak and the other new features for the test flight having only taken place the night before, "I sent those schematics almost two months ago. They should be putting it on all of the 302s by now and work on how to adapt it to the 303s."

"Cam said that they apparently had a bit of a problem with the maths and physics involved. It appears that the guys from Area 51 asked Doctor Lee for help and that he told them to ask you, but they either were too ashamed or too proud to ask. Cam is totally enamored with the new gadgets you devised. He can't stop raving about them. Anyhow, I'm not letting you off the hook that easily. Sam, you can't just turn your back to everything that has been your life for the last ten years and more."

Sam heard the genuine concern in his voice; so, she decided to be honest, "Cassie needs me, Daniel. She has been through hell and I won't let her go through the aftermath alone."

"Then ask for leave, an indefinite leave of absence. You can still resign should it not be granted. But what about Atlantis? Will Colonel Shepard be able to do your job?"

"John will bitch and whine and bitch some more, but he will get the job done. It might be good for him to play desk jockey for a while. It will get him some perspective, and Teyla and Ronan will keep him in check should it become necessary. Should the need arise, Teyla will administer some tough love with the help of her fighting batons."

Daniel could almost see the mischievous twinkle in Sam's eyes; so, he simply had to ask, "Speaking from experience, Colonel Carter?"

"I deserved it, Danny. I was a complete ass after the accident at the lab. My new abilities threw me for a loop and I was a real bitch to everyone, until Teyla called me up on it. We both were pretty banged up afterwards but it did the trick and brought me back down to Earth, so to speak."

"And should I sick her on you now too to keep you from taking leave of your senses? Thinking about it, Vala would probably volunteer to do the honors."

"Daniel, I have been shot. I wouldn't be a worthy opponent to anyone, and from the way it feels I won't be for quite some time."

"Carolyn said that the 357 did quite a number on your shoulder when Jack asked her this morning. She also said that it's too early to tell how much damage it really did and if any of it will be permanent. Sorry, to be the bearer of bad news."

"It could be worse, Danny. The important thing is that Cassie is still alive, that Olivia is still alive and that Alex is still alive."

After a long moment of silence Sam said, "Could you get a hold of Major Davis for me, please? Ask him to send me the proper forms for an indefinite leave of absence effective immediately."

"I will, Sam, but there's no need to hurry. I had almost forgotten. Carolyn has already put through the paperwork for a medical leave of absence."

Sam sighed. It seemed as if everyone was hell bent to take care of her, Olivia who would probably decide not to tell her that her father had been a rapist, Jack and General Landry who risked their careers to save her neck, the mysterious person who had involved the President, and now Carolyn by taking her off-duty for medical reasons. She sighed again and made a decision.

"Thank Carolyn for me, will you, Daniel, but I still want to get the ball rolling on that other thing. I'll tell Cassie that we talked and give her your best when she wakes up. She had physical therapy earlier and it has worn her out."

Daniel took her last words for the dismissal they were and simply said, "I will see to it, Sam, don't worry, and Sam, don't do anything crazy."

"Why would I do something crazy, Daniel? I'm in a hospital bed with a hole in my shoulder."

"I know you, Samantha Carter, and I recognize the inflection in your voice. It means that you plan on doing something completely reckless. And please, at least do me the curtsey not to deny it."

Sam stared at her phone, "I promise, Danny, I won't do anything stupid. I just don't want to let them know that I'm awake just yet. I need some time alone."

"I understand, Sam, just take care of yourself and Cassie."

The sound of Daniel disconnecting the call rang loud in her ears and Sam knew that he would strongly object to what she intended to do next.

Sam had been honest when she had told Daniel that she needed time on her own. She felt the strong urge to just walk away from it all though she knew she wouldn't, and not only for Cassie's sake. But she also knew that she needed a change of scenery to process what she had just learned, about General Carter and the meeting the President had called for Monday.

So, she slid out of bed and walked over to the wall closet, hoping that she would find a pair of scrubs. Instead, she found the duffle bag with her clothes and gratefully slipped into her underwear and a pair of jeans, though it would be more appropriate to say that she put those items on, slowly. The pain radiating from her shoulder turned her usual grace into slow and awkward movements. Pulling the jeans up was agony and buttoning the fly excruciating. Sam tried to move her injured arm to put on a T-shirt or a sweater but had to bit her lips to keep a cry of pain from bursting forth. As a compromise she forced the fingers of her injured arm into the waistband of her trousers and slipped an NYPD sweater over her head that had mysteriously found its way into her bag. The empty sleeve hanging at her side looked ridiculous but it was the best she could do.

When Sam was already half-ways to the door it occurred to her that she was not wearing any socks or shoes, and had she been in a more rational state of mind she would have seen that as a sign that she simply wasn't in any condition to walk around. She chose her running shoes because the Velcro straps were easy to close with one hand. Then she called up Major General Jacob Carter's personal file on her laptop and left it open and running on the bed. She also left a note for Cassie, telling her that she needed some time alone and would be back before nightfall.

-x-x-x-

Olivia paced the length of the hospital room. She was limping and her thigh ached but she was simply too worried and too angry to stay still. Alex leaned against a wall and wished that there would be something she could do, but the nurses and hospital security were already searching the hospital from the helipad on the roof to the basement, room by room. It had been an hour since the nurse bringing Cassandra's dinner tray had found the seemingly comatose patient in the other bed missing.

"What the hell was that stubborn fool thinking?" Olivia asked no one in particular.

"She wasn't thinking, Olivia," Cassandra said. She was sitting on her bed and if it had been up to her she would be out there with the search parties but Olivia had outright refused to let her leave the room and the expression in her eyes had made Cassie relent.

"Damn right, she wasn't thinking. For all we know she could have keeled over in one of the stairwells and have reinjured her shoulder and there's only one bag with blood left. That pig-headed idiot could get herself killed after all. I'm simply going to slap her silly when we find her."

"She does not want to be found, Liv. Perhaps we should just give her the time she needs to process everything. Judging from the file she left for you on the laptop she knows and it's a hard pill to swallow," Alex said.

"To process something you need to think about it logically, but Sam is not thinking. She probably found a quiet corner, preferably outside, and blames herself. She will shut down her emotions, convinced that she doesn't deserve to be loved or even to have friends. And as soon as she has done that she will find the next bar and drown her sorrows," Cassandra said.

"No, Cassie, she will not drink, for once she doesn't have any money with her and she would not break her word." At Cassandra's visible surprise Olivia added, "She told me Monday night at my apartment, about the promise she made to her godfather and how she broke it once after her lover's death. No, Sam won't hide in a bottle."

"I hope you are right, Olivia. Damn it, at home I would know exactly where to look for her."

Cassandra's growing fear and frustration seemed to help Olivia to snap back into detective mode, "Tell me about those hiding places."

And so Cassie told her about the boulder at Cheyenne Mountain, about the spot on the roof next to the chimney, about the small cave that overlooks a part of the Garden of the Gods.

"She's on the roof," Olivia said, "hidden somewhere where she could see the stars of the Virgin if it were night."

"What makes you think that?" Alex asked.

"The places Cassie described are all in a special location, with a very specific view. She probably didn't think straight enough to consult a map of the area, so the roof is the only logical choice. I guess somewhere behind the elevator towers," Olivia said.

"Why the sign of the Virgin and not any other sign of the zodiac?" Alex asked.

"According to her father's file her mother was born in September. She feels protected by this particular star constellation. And before you say anything, Alex, I know that they already checked the roof, but they also didn't know where to look. I'll find Sam. I'll call if she's not there but if you don't hear from me in the next ten minutes I found her and you can call off the search. Sam will be alright, Cassie, I promise."

"Thank you, Olivia. Tell her that I love her and that I will kick her in the shin as soon as the plaster comes off, and tell her that General Carter is not worth her anguish."

-x-x-x-

Sam was really behind the elevator towers with her feet dangling over the edge and her back against one of the ventilation shafts of the air condition system.

"Are you here to drag me back inside, Detective Benson?"

"I'd rather hoped that you would come willingly, Sam, and what's up with the 'Detective Benson' formality. We are friends, call me Liv or Livia, even Livvy, in a pinch."

Olivia took a seat next to Sam, close enough to reach over and touch her, but far enough away to respect the other woman's personal space.

"How can we be friends after what my father did to you and to your mother, Olivia? I don't deserve that," Sam said without moving or turning around. "I'm sorry that your mother never saw justice for what had been done to her. I'm sorry that I can't do anything to make him pay for what he did to you and your mother. And I won't blame you if you don't want anything to do with me in the future."

"It wasn't your fault, Sam. You were not even born when it happened. You didn't hold a gun to his head and forced him to violate my mother and those two other women."

Sam tried to protest but Olivia put her hand on her uninjured arm.

"It was not your fault. It was his. I don't make friends easily, Sam; just ask Elliot or Alex. It took me months to open up to them, but that first night in my apartment I told you things about me no one else knew. I never have been as honest with anyone else ever since Alex had to leave. I don't want to lose you as a friend, and in time we'll both come to terms with being half-sisters. And one day you'll answer my questions about your… our father."

"I can do that now," Sam answered.

"But you won't, Sam, not now. It can wait. For now we will go back to your room. Cassie is worried about you. She needs to see that you are alright. For all intents and purposes you were in a coma only a couple of hours ago and your disappearance has put the whole hospital in an uproar."

"Why are you doing this? You should be disgusted instead of showing me compassion."

"It's not compassion, Sam. It's friendship and respect. I like you, very much, and if you want a more pathetic answer: I'm just not catholic enough to blame the child for the sins of the father, and if you ask me I could do much worse for a sibling. Besides, how did you find out, just from the DNA panels?

"No, I heard your conversation with Alex. The printouts were just the scientific confirmation I needed. Are you sure that you still want to be my friend, Olivia?" Sam asked after a long moment of hesitation.

"Yes, I'm sure, Sam," Olivia feared to aggravate Sam's shoulder if she gave her a real embrace, so she only put an arm around Sam's waist. Sam flinched but she didn't try to move away, either. Olivia saw that as a good sign. "I want you as my friend, Sam, and more when we both feel comfortable with it. And now, let's get you inside before someone mistakes you for Doctor Kimble's one-armed villain."

"Give me a few more minutes, Liv. As soon as I go back in the doctors will have a field day with me, Melinda will read me the riot act, and I'm sure that Cassie also will have some choice words to say."

"Cassie will be too relieved that you're awake and in one piece, relatively speaking, to say anything nasty. But as soon as your arm is back in working order I'm going to chase you all over the gym for scaring the crap out of me with your disappearing act," Olivia answered, secretly relieved that Sam had reverted to calling her 'Liv'.

Sam turned her head and looked at Olivia with a cocky grin on her face, "You can try, Detective, you can try. Give me a week or two and I should be ready to face you, but you have to promise not to sick Alex on me if you get a bit banged up. I wouldn't want to face her wrath. I have a feeling that she'd be a formidable opponent."

"Alex is a predator, in the courtroom and when dealing with perps. She has zero tolerance for incompetence and stupidity, but apart from that she is the most kind and caring person ever," Olivia answered with a somewhat goofy smile Sam found completely endearing.

"And it doesn't hurt that she's absolutely gorgeous. You don't have to sell the qualities of your girlfriend to me, Liv. A blind man three state over can see that you love each other."

At hearing the word 'girlfriend' Olivia's grin grew into a full-blown smile.

"Yeah, you got it bad, my friend. Enjoy the feeling."

Sam patted Olivia's thigh. At that point she became aware that the new level of pain she had felt ever since Olivia had put her arm around her was not her own pain but more an echo of Olivia's. Sam focused on that and came to the conclusion that it was indeed time to head back in.

"And speaking of feelings. Let's get you back inside. You need some painkillers. It seems you overdid it during physical therapy."

"How do you do that, Sam?" Olivia asked.

"I don't know exactly. Something happened with my genes. It's part of the long story I promised to tell you and the others, and in time I will."

Olivia turned a bit to the side to make eye contact with Sam, "Listen, Sam, we spoke, Alex, Melinda and I. We don't need to know why you can do what you did. We guess that it's classified for a reason. Just tell us to forget all about it and we will."

"Thank you, Liv. Your trust means a lot to me, especially in light of recent revelations."

"Sam, don't start with that again. I admit that it will take some time for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I finally found out who raped my mother, but you are not responsible for what your father did. You are my friend, and I don't like it if my friends beat themselves up over things they had absolutely no control over. Got it?" Olivia said.

"Yes, Liv, thank you. Help me to get up, so I can go back inside to face the music and you can find those painkillers calling your name."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	21. Chapter 21: The Cabot Factor

**CH 21: The Cabot Factor**

Melinda was pacing the corridor in front of the suite that held Olivia's and Sam's rooms when the reasons for her pacing stepped out of the elevator. Olivia unsuccessfully tried to hide the fact that she was limping and Sam looked anywhere but at her friend. Melinda shot them both a dark glare though Olivia could see that she was more exasperated than angry. She opened the door and ushered them in the common room that connected the two hospital rooms. Melinda sent Sam to the room she shared with Cassandra with strict orders to sit on the bed and wait.

Then the M.E. practically pulled Olivia in the other room, "Bed, now. You did enough running around for one day or you'll end up undoing all of Sam's hard work. Here take these."

"I'm fine, Melinda. The pain will go away on its own. Those things will knock me out."

"Take them or I'll give them to you intravenously. It has only been a few days since you almost died, Liv. You have to be more careful, if not for yourself than for Alex' sake."

"You don't fight fair," Olivia grumbled under her breath, but accepted the two pills. "Where is Alex?"

"I sent her and Cassandra to get something to eat outside of the hospital. Mrs. Cabot and Professor Wolf are with them and will take care of them."

Olivia swallowed the combination of pain relieve and muscle relaxant with some water, "Harry will have a cow when he finds out about Alex' ribs."

"I don't think Alex is liable to volunteer that little tidbit of information. Thanks to Cassandra she is healed."

"By the way, I told Sam, about our talk, but I doubt she will take us up on it. I got the impression that she really wants to tell us the truth. And I want to hear it, if only to know what my sister's life really is about, but I don't want to get her into more trouble with her brass than she already…."

Olivia had fallen asleep and Melinda asked herself if she even had been aware that she had called Sam her sister, "Sleep well, my friend. And now for the next mule head."

-x-x-x-

Sam had already taken off her clothes and was busy pulling up a pair of scrub pants when Melinda came in, "What part of: 'Sit on the bed and don't move' did you not understand, Samantha Carter?"

"Hey, Mel, I just thought that I would make it easier for you to poke and prod me." Sam gave her a disarming smile, at least it was meant to be disarming.

"Don't even try it, Sam. You can't charm your way out of that."

"It was worth a try, Mel. You don't need to worry. I will be fine. My shoulder will heal, though it probably will take longer than I'd like. I will need a few more days to really get over the blood loss but I have a history of being anemic and I know what to do. It's unlikely that I will go for my morning run tomorrow or the day after that, but I will heal. I know my body," Sam said.

"Sam, you almost died. You arrested twice in the OR and from everything Doctor Lam told me you should still be in a coma or whatever that kelnorem thing does. Do you have any idea what could have happened if you had become dizzy or lost your balance during your little trip to the roof? You can't afford to reinjure that shoulder, especially since there's only one bag of your blood left," Melinda berated her old friend.

And Sam looked a bit like a scolded schoolgirl, "I'm sorry, Mel. I just needed to get out of the room and if I had called for help there would have been no chance for that happening any time soon with everyone fussing over me. I needed to be alone."

"I can understand that, Sam. You had quite the bombshell to digest, about your father, but it still was dangerous given your condition and you had a lot of people worried. Promise me, Sam, the next time you need some space, ask for some help. We'll all understand and it won't put the whole hospital in an uproar," Melinda said while she checked Sam's vitals.

"I'm sorry, Mel."

"It's alright, Sam. Your vitals look good. Now, let me call Doctor Richter. She's the surgeon who put your shoulder back together. After that I'll give you something to help you sleep," Melinda said.

"I just spent more than the last twenty-four hours sleeping, Mel," Sam whined.

"And your body just went through a massive, life threatening trauma. You need food and you need rest and I will make sure that you get both."

"Gods, you're as stubborn as Janet," Sam said.

"I take that as a compliment. Now, let me call Doctor Richter."

Melinda used the phone on the nightstand to call the nurse station and was told that Doctor Richter had just come out of surgery and would be there in about twenty minutes. Melinda also made sure that some dinner would be brought up.

"Where is Cassie?" Sam asked.

"Mrs. Cabot took Alex and Cassandra to dinner outside of the hospital. Your daughter is alright. She's a very strong young woman."

"Does she know about my father?" Sam asked.

"Yes, she knows. Sam, I'm sorry that you had to find out on your own. I wanted to tell you myself."

"It's alright, Melinda. I guess there's no good way to tell someone that their father was a rapist. How did Cassie take it?" Sam asked again.

"She didn't say much, murmured something I couldn't understand. Now that I think about it, it was rather strange. There should have been more of a reaction. Maybe she's in denial."

"No, that's implausible. My father was a soldier, career military to the core and in the third generation. He strongly disapproved of my relationship with Janet and Cassie more than once got caught in the crossfire as the daughter of the degenerate who had bewitched his little girl – to quote one of his more harmless sayings. He never had a smile for Cassie and she couldn't help but witness that he hurt her Mom and me with his words every chance he got. I guess for Cass it was just the confirmation of what she always thought about Jacob Carter. General Carter was not an easy man to know, less be related to."

"George Huang would say that you're disassociating by calling him by his rank instead of calling him 'father'," Melinda said and immediately regretted her words when she saw the hurt in Sam's eyes.

"And he would be right. It was easier to think of him that way," Sam admitted.

"I'm sorry, Sam."

"What for, Melinda? It's not your fault that my father was a better soldier than father."

"And it's not your fault that he also was a rapist, Sam."

"That's what Olivia insists on making me believe," Sam said flatly.

"Then believe it, Sam. You could have done worse than gain Olivia as a sister. She comes with a built-in instant family, namely the guys of the one-six. And you have a great advantage over most other people, Sam: they already adore you. They only left the hospital after Doctor Lam had assured them that you would survive. They called to get your news, and Elliot even sat with you for a while. He even got Cassie to smile. And Carolyn made it a point to emphasize that you have created a rather unusual family of your own over the years. It might be fun to bring them together one day, for a BBQ or something," Melinda said to lighten the mood.

"That sounds like a real challenge, considering the distances involved," Sam answered with a tentative smile.

Before Melinda had a chance to get Sam to clarify that statement there was a knock on the door and Doctor Richter came in. Proverbially surgeons are not known for their exemplary bedside manners. SGC's Doctor Warner was a prime example of that. His Long Island counterpart, however, was surprisingly gentle when she manipulated Sam's arm to determine the extent of her mobility. Sam still couldn't hold back the occasional moan or yelp of pain.

"You have a surprisingly high pain threshold, Colonel Carter, but you still shouldn't make any sudden movement. I'll put your arm in a sling to relieve the pressure on the shoulder and we can start with PT tomorrow. I had to repair extensive damage to your muscles, tendons and even nerves, but judging from your reaction now I'm very optimistic that you'll get your full range of motion and complete fine motor control back," the woman said.

"Thank you, Doctor Richter. I'm sorry if I gave you any trouble on the OR table," Sam said softly. Her body had already told her that she would heal, but it still felt good to have it confirmed by a medical professional.

"You're welcome, Colonel Carter. I only did my job, just as you do yours, and if we're both lucky we're saving lives. Have a good night and get as much rest as you can. I'll have dinner send up to you in a few minutes. Good night, Doctor Warner."

The woman was gone before either of the other could return her wishes, "Tell me, Doc, when was last time you were home? When was the last time you spoke with your daughter?"

"Chill, Sam. We talked a couple of hours ago when she came home from school. She's looking forward to another night of take-out dinner spend with her Daddy. He's spoiling her rotten. But you do have a point. I should go home to get a full night of sleep, now that you obviously are no longer at death's door."

"Wow!, a doctor who listens to advice. Color me impressed," Sam teased.

-x-x-x-

A sharp knock on the door cut off Melinda's answer. A nurse bustled in without waiting for a reply. She put a food tray on the collapsible table at the side of the mobile nightstand and pushed it in front of Sam.

"Here we go, pre-cut dinner for our handicapped heroine."

Sam shot up from her reclining position, "What are you talking about?"

"It's all over the evening news, the heroic rescue of ADA Alexandra Cabot from the clutches of the mob. You and Detective Benson are heroes, Colonel Carter," the nurse answered. "I think it's so cool, real heroes on my floor."

"Please, tell me that the press does not know where we are or this could turn into a nightmare of epic proportions, not only for us but also for the hospital. With news vans parked outside and reporters wanting in, it would disrupt your whole routine," Sam said.

"A patient called, so I didn't see the whole news clip, but there were photos of all of you, and I think I recognized the entrance of a hospital in Manhattan," the nurse answered.

"I see, that might buy us some time. Unfortunately New York journalists are like bloodhounds, tenacious and not stupid. Thank you for letting us know, Nurse Novelli," Melinda said. When the woman was gone she added, "Well, so much for going home. I'll call the captain, you should warn Alex to be on the look-out for cameras. I don't get it. When I spoke to Captain Cragen earlier this day he said that the powers that be had decided to play it close to the vest and avoid a public statement or press release."

Sam fished her Blackberry out of her bag and called Alex' cell phone. It was picked up after the second ring, "Hey, Alex, it's Sam. One of the nurses told us that our little rescue mission made the news."

"I know. We were just waiting for the check when it was broadcasted. Luckily the diner we were in has a back entrance. My mother recognized one of the local journalists at a neighboring table and the woman also recognized us. She's usually writing about social events in the Hamptons. It won't take her long to track us down to East Hampton Memorial. I already tried to reach Captain Cragen but his line is busy," Alex said.

"Melinda is talking to him at the moment. Wait a minute, I'll fill them in." A minute later Sam was back, "Captain Cragen wants you and Cassie to return to the hospital. He will alert hospital security to block the entrances to the press. He wants us to stay here until he can arrange for a safe house until the first press frenzy has passed."

"I see."

There was a long moment of silence at the other end and Sam heard whispering voices in the background.

"Sam, my mother just invited us all to her house. It's big enough, fenced in and has security guards at the perimeter to keep unwanted guests out. Uncle Harry will make sure that all of our medical needs are met. What do you think?"

"I think it sounds much better than an anonymous safe house or some non-descript hotel room, but would your mother's house not be the first place journalists would check out?" Sam asked.

"Yes, but as far as I'm concerned they can wait all they want outside of the fence. They won't get through without our permission, and at least the local press won't even try. They wouldn't dare to alienate Caroline Cabot."

"And your mother really doesn't mind to have her house full of strangers?"

"No," Alex answered after a bit more whispering. "She says that it will be a breath of fresh air."

"Alright, that sounds like a plan. Let me pass it by the captain. He has at least to know where to find us."

"Of course. You deal with Don and I'll call Arthur Branch. He also needs to know, especially since he wanted to send Casey over tomorrow to speak strategy. See you in about ten minutes."

Melinda handed Sam her cell phone to talk to the captain who had already heard the gist of the conversation, "Did you hear, Sir? Mrs. Cabot invited us to stay at her house here in the Hamptons."

"Yes, I heard. It sounds like a good idea. Stashing you all away in a safe house would give the impression that we have something to hide. If Alex and her friends go to her mother's estate after her ordeal it would only seem natural. Our press office can even get a positive spin on that," Cragen said.

"Why would we need a positive spin, Don?" Sam asked.

"Because there also are rumors that the military was somehow involved."

"Do they only know about me or also about Nick and Marty?"

"I don't know. Your name was in the news, with an older photo with really short hair. I'll keep you posted. So, the 'house' in the Hamptons… I guess we'll have to accept that the Cabot factor is back in our lives."

"The Cabot factor?"

"Oh, yes, Sam. They come in, take over and all you can do to keep your sanity is to go along with it. Cabot women are a force of nature," Don said with a smile in his voice.

"Then I'm looking forward to the next couple of days, Don. Oh, Alex said she would call the DA, something about redirecting Casey Novak to the house when she comes by tomorrow."

"Branch is in a closed conference with the US Attorney General and some other bigwigs. I'm not even sure that he already knows about the media storm that's going to hit our fan. I couldn't get past his secretary. But if someone can do it, it will be Alex or her mother."

"The Cabot factor, Don?" Sam asked.

"The Cabot factor and tons of personal history. I'll let you go now. I'll keep you posted if there's anything new to tell."

"Thank you, Don, and don't spend the whole night at the precinct. You need a good night's sleep to deal with the vultures," Sam said.

"What are you, Sam, psychic?"

"Just observant. I saw the fold-out cot in your office with the storing cover lying on the filing cabinet. That tells me that you use it often enough not to bother with putting the cover back on."

Don laughed, "I guess I'll have to add the Carter factor in my repertoire."

Now, it was Sam's turn to laugh, "I'm not a force of nature, Don. I'm just a simple soldier."

"Sam, if you are a simple soldier than the pope is just a catholic. Let me put it that way. Should you ever tire of the military there will always be a place for you at the one-six," Don said earnestly.

"Thank you, Don, the sentiment means a lot to me, though at the moment it seems as if the Air Force is going to tire of me."

"That's all the same to me. Good night, Sam."

Cragen disconnected the call and Sam stared wide-eyed at the phone.

-x-x-x-

"Hey, Sam, you look as if you've seen a ghost," Olivia said as she entered the room. "Melinda filled me in on our celebrity status. Did anything else happen in the meantime? Little green men landing at Time Square?"

"That at least would relegate us to page six. No, Liv, nothing happened, except that your boss offered me a job."

"Well, Captain Cragen is a smart man. He knows with your skills and your heart you would be an asset for our unit. And I think it would be fun working with you, as far as the cases we have to deal with can be fun."

"I guess, but even someone as resourceful as your captain would have a hard time to get approval for me with a dishonorable discharge on my jacket," Sam answered.

"You're really worried about that. Is there anything I can do to help?" Olivia took a seat to Sam's right on the bed.

"No, it's out of my or your hands. Just don't tell Cassie. She already has enough to deal with."

"Did you hear anything new?" Olivia asked.

"I spoke with Daniel right after I woke up. He told me that President Hayes has called a meeting with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and a few others for Monday afternoon, and I seem to be one of the topics," Sam said.

"But that's good news, Sam. With the President of the United States in your corner, what could go wrong? And as much as I don't like the press, as long as they're painting you as the hero you are the military can't just get rid of you."

"Who can't get rid of whom?" Alex asked from the doorway.

"You can't get rid of me, my Lexi."

"Somehow I doubt that I was the topic of your conversation, but since I reprociate the sentiment I'll let it go. Doctor Martin and Melinda are busy preparing the supplies we'll need and a therapy schedule for all of you. Liv, why don't you help me to pack our stuff?"

Olivia wanted to protest that it did not take two of them to pack their meager belongings, but then she understood that Alex wanted to give Sam and Cassandra a few minutes alone.

"Come here, kiddo, let me hold you," Sam said and stretched her left arm out invitingly.

Cassie hobbled over and asked, "Are you alright, Mum?"

"Not really, Cass, but I will be. You are alive, Olivia is alive, Alex is alive, and Olivia doesn't hate me for what the general did. That's a good start, don't you think?"

"Yes, it is," after a moment of silence Cassie asked, "Mum, why couldn't I heal you with the healing device? I could feel the naqadah in my blood rush in to fuel the healing device, but when I held it over your shoulder nothing happened. I tried again with Alex' ribs and it worked just fine."

"I don't know for sure, Cass." Sam told her about the DNA resequencer they had found on Atlantis and how it had changed her.

"So, you're a freak, just like me," Cassie said with a not really convincing smile.

"You're not a freak, Cassie, and neither am I. We're just different. By the way I didn't yet thank you for deflecting that dagger. You saved me."

"No, you saved me, Sam. You always will. When you go back to Atlantis, will you take me with you? I think I need a break from Earth."

"If that's what you want then I will, if I return to Atlantis. You will like the Athosians on the mainland. Their culture has many similarities with Hanka. And you will like Teyla. She's their leader and a member of A-1. Atlantis is a great city, Cass, and with Jennifer's help you'll even be able to continue your studies. On occasion she's a bit shy but she's a good doctor and I think you could learn a lot from her."

Before Cassandra had a chance to tell her that she already had the feeling to know all those people, including Colonel Shepard and Rodney McKay Doctor Martin told them that everyone was ready to go.

-x-x-x-

Doctor Martin and Melinda insisted that all three patients were put in wheelchairs with which they complied after some pointless glaring from Sam and Olivia. They left East Hampton Memorial Hospital through an emergency exit where two limousines were waiting, one black, one dark grey. Alex, Olivia, Sam and Cassie got into the black limousine while Caroline, Harry Wolf, Melinda and Doctor Martin took the grey one.

The drive out to Caroline's house took about half an hour. Sam spent most of the time trying to calculate how to share rooms and came to the conclusion that they needed at least three spare bedrooms to accommodate everyone, but who in Netu had a house with that much unused space? She only started to look out of the window when the tires no longer rolled on asphalt but on something that sounded like gravel. She saw a curving lane, well maintained lawn and sculpted bushes, and when the 'house' came into view she was completely taken aback.

That wasn't a house. It was not even a mansion. Sam had seen Goa'uld palaces smaller than that – and her astonishment showed.

Olivia bent over and whispered, "It's not as pretentious as it looks, Sam."

"At least now I know what Don meant with the 'Cabot factor'. That's impressive."

"You haven't seen half of it, Sam, but I promise you'll like it. And no, that's not what he calls the 'Cabot factor'. So, Sam, would you like to share a room with Cassandra or would you prefer one of your own?" Olivia said.

"Oh, I leave that up to Cassie," Sam said with an encouraging smile to her daughter.

"I know, it's childish, Sam, but I want you as close as possible. Last night I woke up from a dream and heard your snoring and I went right back to sleep," Cassie added the last part not to sound too needy and weak.

"Plausible story, except for the fact that I don't snore," Sam answered, happy for the banter.

"Of course, Sam, and Mom didn't snore either."

"Oh, your Mom did snore, she just never admitted to it. Besides if I did snore, do you really think Jack would have let me ever live that down with all the teasing he got for his own snoring."

"I'm not so sure about that, maybe Mom threatened him with extra large needles if he teased you," Cassie said with a twinkle in her eyes that reminded Sam of Janet. Cassie had so much of Janet, it sometimes was scary and it was wonderful, and it hurt like a dozen ribbon devices.

As soon as they had stepped through the glass paneled double doors a voice from the back of the entrance hall greeted them, "Welcome to the Cabot Estate."

Estate seemed an adequate name for the enormous dwelling, Sam thought, and moments later it was as if she had been sent to some sort of fairytale wonderland. The woman who hurried towards them looked just like the cook in one of her favorite illustrated childhood books: small with rosy cheeks, wearing an apron and a big wooden stirring spoon sticking out of a pocket.

She apparently considered the official greeting done with her first words and shot past Sam. Sam turned around and saw her pulling Olivia into a bear hug that would have taken the detective off her feet had the woman been just a few inches taller.

"Olivia Benson, it's good to have you back, but I should spank you for having abandoned us for the last three years."

"Antonia, it's good to be back, but I rather think that Alex would object to you abusing me," Olivia answered with a smile and kissed the other woman on the forehead.

"As if. That girl deserves a spanking of her own for not rushing back into your arms right after her return."

Alex gave them both an embrace and said, "Antonia, we all know that the only thing you'll ever do with that spoon is make us taste the dough of your chocolate cookies."

With a swift movement of her wrist Antonia had drawn her spoon from the apron pocket and smacked it against Alex' backside, "Never argue with your elders, Alexandra."

"That hurt, Toni," Alex said without letting go of the two women.

"No, it didn't. It just surprised you," Antonia answered, "and now mind your manners and introduce me to the rest of your friends."

And so Alex did, not without earning herself another smack on her behind when she introduced Antonia as 'cook, housekeeper, and over-all busybody'.

Sam grinned and finally asked Olivia, "So, the Cabot factor has less to do with genetics and more with attitude."

Sam had kept her voice low but Harry Wolf nonetheless had heard her, "If you'd ask Caroline she would tell you that it's the true blood of a Southern lady that fuels the attitude and overwhelms Yankees. And if you really want to get her going you'll just have to mention the Civil War and she'll tell you how it never would have happened if all of those officers had listened to their wives and daughters and mothers."

Harry caught Caroline's impatient stare and decided that caution, or in his case a strategic retreat was the better part of valor, "Ladies, Doctor Martin, I have to go now. There are still things I'll have to take care of."

"Professor Wolf, could you take me back to the city with you?" Melinda asked.

"There's no need for that Doctor Warner. We have more than enough room here, and with the weekend coming up, why don't you invite your family to come over tomorrow. It's not warm enough for a comfortable barbeque yet but we have an indoor pool. And to make sure that your daughter has someone to play with, Olivia, why don't you call your partner and invite him and his family for the weekend?"

It may have sounded like a question but everyone present knew that it had been an order. So, Olivia and Melinda dutifully pulled out their cell phones and called the city and shortly after Roger Warner and Kathy Stabler confirmed that they would be there around midday. Caroline had then extended the invitation to the rest of the squad to give them the opportunity to see with their own eyes that Alex, Olivia and Sam were really alright. Then Antonia and Caroline showed everyone to their rooms and told them to be ready for dinner in an hour.

While being escorted to the room she would share with Cassandra Sam thought that she really had been wrong. The Cabot factor was not about the Estate or the money or the social standing. It was all about presence, command presence – and that was something Caroline Cabot had in spades and Alex did too, she just seemed a bit more covert in using it. Antonia, well, Antonia was another bag of tricks altogether… maybe, Sam decided, it would be better not to dwell on that.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	22. Chapter 22: The Cabot Estate

CH 22: The Cabot Estate

Sam's energy reserves were still easily depleted, and so she fell asleep right after dinner. That night the familiar nightmare of first making love to Janet and then having her die in her arms did not wake her up, Cassie's cries and whimpers did.

Cassie had sent the comforter flying and was curled up in the middle of the bed in a fetal position, at least as much as the cast on her leg allowed. The oversized sweatshirt and shorts she was wearing were soaked through as were the bed sheets. She was whimpering.

Sam touched her shoulder and Cassie flinched. She talked to Cassie in soft, soothing words to bring her gently out of the dream. It didn't work. Sam shock her, yelled at her. It didn't work and every new whimper sent a jolt of pain and anguish through Sam's heart.

So, Sam did the only other thing she could think of. She removed the constricting sling from her arm, climbed onto the mattress, curled her slightly taller body around Cassie's and held her. She resumed her soft, reassuring words. Sam told her that she was safe and that everything would be alright. She told her that she loved her and that she was the most important person in the universe for her.

It reminded Sam of Cassie's childhood nightmares, when only being held and soothed with loving words would make them end. Cassandra never woke up, like Sam and most other people did. The body contact and the sound of a loving voice rather changed the dreams from something vile and threatening to something pleasant, at least that's how Cassie had once described it.

Sam fervently hoped that it would still work its magic, and after about half an hour she was rewarded by an almost imperceptible relaxation of Cassie's posture. Sam began to hum one of the songs Janet had always sung to soothe Cassie or Sam or both. Cassie relaxed a bit more and the whimpering stopped.

The last time Sam had held Cassie this way had been right after Janet's memorial service, before she had cut herself off from her feelings, her own grief and had sought refuge at the bottom of a bottle. But she wouldn't allow anything like that to happen again. This time she would be there for her daughter, all the way and as long as the independent young woman would let her.

Sam continued to tell Cassie how much she loved her and needed her, and she started to bring up some memories of their life together, of Saturday afternoon BBQs at Colonel O'Neill's house, their swimming lesson in a pond without fish in it, short vacations Sam, Janet and Cassie had taken as a family. When Sam's throat began to hurt from talking Cassie had completely relaxed and turned into Sam's touch, seeking shelter in her arms.

"I love you, kiddo."

"Love you too, Mum," Cassie answered without waking up.

Sam closed her eyes in relief and exhaustion, but the pain radiating from her shoulder kept her awake for at least another half an hour. She pulled Cassie closer and softly kissed her on the crown of her head. She closed her eyes and thought of Janet, of how much she needed her right now to be here, to hold them both, to help them through, to love them.

Cassie's request to take her with her to Atlantis had thrown her for a loop. Did she need the distance to Earth, to her friends, to her studies to heal or was she just running away from it all? Sam asked herself. If I only knew what to do.

And suddenly it was as if she heard Janet's voice giving her an answer, Let her run if she needs to, just be there when she arrives and be there when she turns back. All she needs is your love, Sammy.

Sam fell asleep with a smile on her face.

-x-x-x-

That's how Olivia found them the next morning, curled up on Cassandra's bed with Cassie's head pillowed on Sam's good shoulder and the hand that should have been in a sling, even at night, resting protectively on Cassie's hip. Olivia smiled at the picture they made, but she also knew that it was a sign that the young woman had suffered from a nightmare. No stranger to night terrors herself she was reluctant to wake them up, but just when she had decided to let them sleep in, Sam's eyes opened.

"Hey, Sam, good morning. Breakfast will be ready in about half an hour. It's time to get up."

The atmosphere at the breakfast table was relaxed with some light bantering going on that gave the impression that they all had known each other for years. Doctor Martin, Tony, as he wanted to be called, checked out his patients and followed the instructions for light physical therapy he had been given by Doctor Richter.

The men from the one-six, the Stablers and Melinda's family arrived almost at the same time. Introductions were made and Sam got a bit misty-eyed when she heard that the second name of Melinda's daughter was Janet, Sarah Janet Warner. Sarah and Elliot's twins were about the same age. They already knew each other from a couple of Department Barbeques and quickly asked about the pool their parents had promised.

Alex led the whole group to the back of the house and into an attachment that like a greenhouse was completely made of glass. It contained what appeared to be an Olympic-sized pool. Alex explained that most of the glass structure could be retracted to turn it into an outdoor pool and that in the summer they usually didn't bother to close it every night.

"That's quite impressive, Alex, even for a Cabot," Munch said.

"It was my grandfather's wedding gift to my mother. She was a very successful swimmer before I was born and she still trains every morning. Grandpa always said that the pool was the best investment he ever made."

"So, your mother has trophies and all that?" Maureen Stabler asked. She recently had joined the college swim team and was training for her first competition.

"Tons of them. There's a room on the second floor where we store those things. I'm sure my mother would love to show you around. You'll just have to ask her," Alex answered.

"I think I will. Al….Miss Cabot, I'm glad that you're back. Olivia looks so much more alive now."

"You can call me Alex, Maureen, and it's mutual. I, too, feel much more alive."

The object of their conversation joined them. "Who's alive?"

"You are, Liv."

"Yes, thanks to Sam."

"So, it's true what they said in the news?" Maureen asked. "As usual, Dad doesn't want to talk about it."

Olivia and Alex exchanged a short glance and a curt nod.

Maureen giggled, "You're just like Mom and Dad. You can have a whole conversation without saying a word. Do all old couples do that?"

"Old couples? Alex and I are not an old couple. We've only been back together for a few days," Olivia protested.

"I mean no disrespect, but you said it yourself, Olivia, you're 'back' together. You two were an item before Alex had to leave because of the shooting. In my book that counts as old. So, is it an old couple thing?"

"I can't speak for your parents, Maureen, but Olivia and I have perfected silent conversation long before we became an 'item'. I'm afraid you'll have to adapt your theory," Alex said with a smile.

"Not necessarily," Cassie said from her seat in a lounge chair where Tony had put her to rest her leg. "My Mom and Sam used to do that all the time, as if they knew what the other was thinking. Sometimes it was real spooky but most of the time is was kinda cute. I asked my Mom about it one day. She said that some people are just meant to be together and then when they finally meet for the first time that something between them just clicks and that they'll always be stronger together, like two halves of a whole."

"That sounds a lot like that story by Platon I read about on the internet, Cassandra."

"Call me Cass or Cassie, all my friends do. You mean the one about soul mates? What made you search for that?"

"My friends call me Reena, please, do so too. I didn't exactly search for it. It was just something that came up in some text I was reading," Maureen answered with badly feigned disinterest.

"By any chance did that text had to do with the adventures of a certain Warrior Princess and her Amazon Queen, Reena?"

"I might have read a couple of stories about them. I really loved the show."

John, Alex and Olivia walked over to a table out of earshot. John smirked and Olivia had a hard time not to giggle. Finally, Alex asked, "Do you think that they have any idea what they're doing?"

"Probably not, but there's nothing to say against a bit of flirting to make a new friend," John answered. "And it will take Cassandra's mind off the things she has been through lately, at least for a while. Let them be young and carefree as long as they can."

Sam was sitting at the other side of the pool with Elliot, Kathy, Melinda and her husband Roger. They already had talked about the pool and the weather and the drive out to the Hamptons and now there was a bit of an awkward silence between them.

So, Kathy asked, "The news say that you're a hero, Sam. How does that feel?"

Sam tried to shrug her shoulders but that sent a lightning bolt of pain through her body and she closed her eyes to fight down the nausea that brought up, "The news rarely get their facts straight, Kathy. It was your husband who risked his life to cut Alex loose. The media should be calling him a hero too, or Olivia or Nick and Marty."

"We were there, Sam, but it was you who pushed Liv aside when White aimed at her. It was you who got struck by a bullet meant for my partner. It was you who redirected the shot aimed at Alex, and it was you who took that crazy bastard down despite being injured. Like it or not, Colonel Carter, you are a hero," Elliot said emphatically.

Before Sam had a chance to say anything Roger burst out, "You're the one. Now, I recognize you. We have a photo of you in desert camos. You're the one with the Bronze Star, the pilot."

"A Bronze Star? That must be one hell of a story." Elliot easily read the expression on Sam's face and changed subject, "I guess it will have to wait. Looks like lunch is ready." He gestured towards the entrance where Caroline had just come in.

-x-x-x-

Lunch consisted of salad and sandwiches, just something light to tide everyone over 'til the early dinner Antonia had insisted on preparing. It was loud and lively and got even more so when Casey Novak arrived with a tall dark-haired woman in tow who was greeted like a long lost friend by the officers of the one-six.

When the guys all had hugged her Alex stepped up to the woman. She stemmed her hands on her hips and said sternly, "Carmichael."

"Cabot."

"Abigail."

"Alexandra."

The names were more growled than spoken and the uninformed observer probably would have expected them to jump at each other's throat any moment now. Instead they burst out laughing.

Abbie crossed the distance between them, pulled Alex into a bear hug and off her feet, "Hey, Princess, it's good to see you well and alive, especially alive."

"Let me down, Cowboy, or you'll ruin both of our reputations."

"Not possible, Alex, we already know that deep down you're mush balls," John said and was literally pinned in place by twin glares from blue eyes. "What I wanted to say is that it's pretty much a requirement in your jobs. Were you just the hard-asses you pretend to be you would earn tons of money as defense attorneys."

"Nice save, John," Casey commented and smirked at the other two attorneys. "Langan won't know what hit him with the two of you."

"Langan? What does he hope to gain by defending a serial killer? Nationwide recognition?" Fin asked incredulously. "I always knew that he's a scumbag."

"Why don't you all postpone your business talk until after lunch?" Caroline proposed. What she didn't say but was made clear by her posture was, 'This is not a conversation to be had with children present'. "So, why don't Alexandra and Abigail tell all of you how they met? That should keep us entertained for a while."

Alex groaned but started to speak as soon as everyone had retaken their seats, "I joined the debate team my first year in College. We made the National championship the next year. I was the youngest of the team they sent. When the debates started it soon became clear to us that there was only one other team that could take the title from us, a small group from some backwater college in Texas." Alex gave Abbie a wide grin.

"Yeah, as if. We were determined not to let those arrogant, holier-than-thou bastards from the East Coast win," Abbie said.

"Sounds like love at first sight," Casey added.

"In a way it was. The whole thing lasted two weeks and on the third day by luck of the draw Abbie and I ended on the same side of a discussion, about the statute of limitations for rape. We had the morning to prepare our arguments and then faced two boys from two others teams in the afternoon. We found that we worked well as a team, and when the championship was over I took her home for a few days."

"You know, Princess, you take all the fun out of that story. It took some time until we had sized each other up. We had some pretty formidable rows on the podium. In fact we were so good that the jurors couldn't decide which team to choose and for the first and until now last time split the prize. But that's only half the story. During debates you have to be all prim and proper, firm in your arguments but not too passionate, and we soon found out that we both needed an outlet after spending the day like that. One evening Alex challenged me to a horse race and we ended up having to walk back."

"Hey, it's not my fault that you were too busy to jump head first in the lake we passed by to properly tether our rides together, Cowboy."

"My fault? It was your idea to go skin… swimming. Besides…"

"Back off a bit, would you, Abbie?" Fin said. "Are you telling me that our Ice Princess, the formidable Bureau Chief Alexandra Cabot went skinny-dipping?"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it, Fin. One night we…"

"Don't you dare, Abbie Carmichael!"

"Hey, I just wanted to say that one night we snuck out of the dorm and looked at the stars and told us about our wishes and plans for the future," Abbie answered with a wide grin. "See, innocent as it can get."

"Oh yes, after we had broken in one of the juror's offices and polished off his stash of hard liquor, and let me tell you all, going into a debate with a hangover was a real pain in the neck."

Their anecdotes had everyone at the table in stitches and prolonged their lunch considerably but after a while Elizabeth, Dickie and Sarah begged to be allowed to return to the pool and Cassie, Maureen, Kathleen, Kathy, Melinda, Tony, Roger and Caroline decided to go with them. The others adjourned to the library to talk shop.

-x-x-x-

"So, Trevor Langan will defend our serial killer… We checked Williamson's background, including his financials. He's well off, but not enough to pay Langan's usual fees," Munch said after everyone had found a seat.

"For once, Langan is not really to blame," Casey said. "Williamson refused legal representation but given the scope of the case and the fact that he has no legal background Judge Harper would hear nothing of it. There was no public defender in reach, but Langan happened to pass by on the way to a motion hearing. Harper recruited him, reminding him of the fact that justice is blind and does not care for the state of the bank accounts of her clients. Langan tried to get out of it. He even appealed to Liz, to no avail."

"Liz? I thought Judge Donnelly was on vacation for another two weeks?" Olivia asked.

"Arthur asked her to come back early. She's one of the few judges who do not use the services of Peger, Ruslin and Durst. She'll preside over the White trial," Casey said.

"Wow!, Arthur prosecuting in front of Liz. I'd give a lot to be a flea on that courtroom wall. But back to Langan. Now that he has the case he will fight you tooth and nail, Casey."

"No, not me. Poor Trevor will have to go up against you and Abbie, Alex."

"Abbie and me? Are you nuts? That's rightfully your case, Casey, and Arthur made it very clear to me that I'm to stay away from Hogan Place for the time being."

"Yesterday evening, when the news about the rescue aired Arthur, more than half a dozen other DAs and my boss held a video conference about the Williamson case. They came to an agreement. The trial will be held in New York because he was caught in your jurisdiction and most of the key witnesses are already here. The US Attorney will have first chair and New York County's DA Office will have second chair. In other words, Princess, you and I will put that guy behind bars, preferably until he'll end up with a needle in his arm. Two of your junior ADAs volunteered to do some of the legwork for us and make sure that you won't have to go to the office, at least until the media storm has abated," Abbie said.

"Williamson will be a big case with a lot of media presence. It should be your case, Casey. I won't take this from you. It's not fair. I'll call Arthur and refuse."

"You will do no such thing, Alex. It was hard enough to come to the compromise we found. And it's not as if I won't share in your glory. Arthur gave me the Kelles case, well Kelles and the others. They're all looking at life without parole for assault, rape and accessory to murder. At the moment they're falling all over themselves trying to cut a deal but luckily Arthur no longer is in a bargaining mood, not after Kelles escaped and attacked Cassandra in the hospital."

"What are you talking about? Cassie got attacked? Why the hell did no one tell me?" Sam burst out and jumped from her seat.

"Calm down, Sam. It's the first thing I hear too. Someone care to fill us in?" Olivia said.

Sam reluctantly sat down again and Captain Cragen told them what he knew about the incident.

"Nick Potter clobbered a raving madman who had just killed a trained police officer? The same Nick Potter who got beat up by a scrawny street kid only a few weeks ago? Talk about a streak of luck," Alex said.

Sam was sure that there was more to the story, but she didn't want to arouse suspicion, so she said, "And I'm thankful for that."

The important thing was that Cassie had not been hurt. She could ask her for details later. Not that it was easy to delay her questions and curb her worry – and Olivia seemed to sense that, "Cassie is alright, Sam. Nothing happened. Getting angry about it now will not change anything."

Sam squeezed Olivia's thigh in recognition but didn't answer verbally.

"So," Fin asked, "Monday morning we will go back to the precinct and deal with our usual perps while we leave the rest of the fun to you lawyer types."

"You wish, Fin," Casey said. "Do you want to tell them or should I, Don?"

"Oh, I leave that honor all to you, Casey."

"Alright, cut the suspense and talk," Elliot demanded.

"Until further notice the detectives of Manhattan's Special Victims Unit are on special assignment with the US Attorney and the DA's Office. You will do follow up interviews on all three cases, help us with the paperwork. In other words, you're DA investigators now, only better than the regular bunch," Casey said with a wide grin.

"Glorified errant boys? You got to be kidding me. I sense a conspiracy," Munch said.

"And for once you are right, John. The DA and the US Attorney General conspired with the Police Commissioner. Arthur asked for the best, and we got the one-six. I guess that will have to do," Abbie said with a provocative smirk.

Alex smacked her on the back of her head, "Watch your tongue, Cowboy."

"Or what Princess? You'll sick Olivia on me? I'm trembling."

"You should, Abbie, she regularly wipes the gym floor with our SWAT guys," Cragen said with a smirk of his own.

"I'm still not trembling, Princess."

"Well, Cowboy, then you leave me no choice. If you're not afraid of the princess and her knight I'll just have to sic the Queen herself on you. You got my drift, Carmichael?"

"And that would be fair, how? I got as much defenses against Caroline Cabot as I have against my own Mother."

"Whining does not become you, Abbie," Elliot said. "You and Alex are worse than my twins with your squabbling."

"At least we don't look alike. I can't imagine myself in blonde. Now, why don't you guys go and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Us girls still have some things to talk about."

"I'll stay if you want me to, Liv, Sam?"

Olivia and Sam exchanged glances before Olivia answered, "We'll be fine, Elliot. Go and play with your kids."

"So, what's up?" Sam asked as soon as the men had left.

"It's about Cassandra Fraiser. What she told us about Kelles does not match the statements of the others of his gang, including Gwen's," Casey said.

Sam wanted to refute even the idea that Cassie could not have told the whole truth but she controlled herself and asked, "What exactly does not match?"

Casey looked to Abbie and Abbie to Casey. When none of them was forthcoming, Alex gave Abbie another soft head slap, "Just tell us, Cowboy."

"Miss Fraiser's statement was very concise and detailed but still there were things missing," Abbie said and hoped that the tense blond with her arm in a sling would not ask for details.

Working narcotics, homicide and special victims Abbie had seen and heard a lot but the statements of Kelles's gang members had threatened to turn her stomach and made her long for a double shot of something, anything as long as it burned going down the throat.

Sam fought her instinct to grab the dark-haired attorney and shake her until she spilled the details but instead focused on Casey's and Abbie's faces, "So, she edited out the most horrific parts of what Kelles and his cronies did to her, probably without being aware of it. To testify against them she has to have all the details or the defense attorney will take her apart on the stand. Did you already speak to George Huang about that?"

"We did," Casey answered. "He said that especially with highly intelligent people such cases of selective amnesia are rather common. He also said that with good counseling it will go away on its own."

"But not in time for the trial, right?" Sam asked.

"Probably not," Casey answered.

"Cassie has an IQ of 148, the last time we checked. So, I guess she qualifies as highly intelligent. Are there ways to bring those memories back without harming her?"

"George said that it might be good if she had counseling as soon as possible."

"Could you ask him to come here sometime on Monday? He might know the right questions to ask. A few years ago I had some success with lucid dreaming to recover lost memories. But I'm not sure I want to put Cassie through that. It wasn't a pleasant experience."

"I'll speak with George about it," Casey answered. "In the meantime, let's just forget about it. George also said that a relaxed atmosphere and some distraction would make her more accessible. She needs to relax."

"And so do you, Casey, and you, Cowboy," Alex said. "So, let's find you some bathing suits and get you to relax for the rest of the day. It's the weekend after all."

"R & R at the Cabot Estate, sounds good to me," Abbie answered. "Lead the way, Princess."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	23. Chapter 23: GeneralHammond's Visit

**CH 23: General Hammond's Visit**

A/N: I apologize for having posted the wrong text file with chapter 21. The error has been repaired, so, please, go back there and read it. It explains how they all ended up at Caroline Cabot's 'little cottage'.

They all spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool, relaxing, talking, swimming, sleeping. Sam dozed off only minutes after she had sat down in one of the comfortable lawn chairs, her mostly sleepless night finally catching up with her. Cassie stayed close by but instead of sleeping she spent most of the time talking with Maureen, about college and music, growing up as the child of soldiers in contrast to being the kid of a cop, fashion, their favorite movies and TV shows, about everything and nothing.

At one point Elliot took his partner aside, "What's up with you and Sam, Liv? Did you have a fight? Earlier in the library there was so much sadness in her eyes when she looked at you."

Olivia pulled him out of the pool extension into the garden. She tried to keep her voice professional when she told him about what the lab techs processing the evidence from the scene at the warehouse had found and what conclusion Melinda had drawn from comparing Sam's and Olivia's DNA profiles.

"Sam is afraid that if I get the chance to think about it that I will hate her for what her father did."

"But you don't. Give her time. Hearing that about her father must have been a shock for her. Tell me about him."

"His name was Jacob Carter, Major General Jacob Carter of the United States Air Force. He died about two and a half years ago, natural causes. Sam showed me his service record but we didn't have the chance to really talk about him."

"How are you dealing with it, Liv?"

"I don't really know. I'm a bit numb, I guess. I finally got what I always wanted, a name and a face to put on the monster who has raped my mother, and then it turns out that he's an honest to goodness hero and the father of a woman I consider a good friend, of a woman who saved my life twice in less than a week. What motivates a decorated officer, a man with a wife and two kids to rape three women?"

Elliot put his arms around Olivia to comfort her, "You might never find that out, Liv. I doubt that he put it in a diary or something and you can't ask him anymore, but what you can do is to talk about Jacob Carter with Sam. It might give both of you some closure."

Olivia only nodded and they went back inside after Elliot had pulled her in another hug.

After an early dinner everyone gathered in the lobby to say goodbye and Olivia asked, "Da…Captain, what about the rest of our cases? The perps won't stop to murder and rape just because SVU has been taken over by the DA's office."

"We'll get help from other departments. I already recruited Jeffries and I hope that Hogan Place won't need all of your boys all the time, right Casey? And you'll be able to help supervising the rookies as soon as you're cleared for light duty."

"I hate desk duty," Olivia whined.

"You'll survive, Olivia. For now enjoy your time off. Oh, and if you all insist on calling me 'Dad', stop doing it behind my back. Just don't use it in front of the brass."

"Yes, Dad!" The detectives of the one-six and three lawyers chorused.

As soon as they were gone Cassandra said, "I like Captain Cragen. He reminds me of General Hammond, well, a more relaxed version of General Hammond."

Sam smiled. Cassie's words reminded her that her godfather had not yet called back and since she didn't want to think about what that could mean she distracted herself by saying, "There are certain similarities, not only in regard of their hairstyles, but you only saw the captain in a private setting. In the squad room he's as focused and stern as General Hammond in the control room."

Alex and the others were retiring to the living room but Sam wanted to know more about the incident in the hospital with Carl Kelles, "What really happened when Kelles attacked you in the hospital and why did I have to hear it from someone else?"

"When did we have the opportunity for me to tell me? And I was so worried about you that I simply forgot, Mum," Cassandra then told Sam every detail of what Kelles had tried to do and how she had stopped him, first with her re-emerged telepathic abilities and then with the zat. She also told Sam how much she had wanted to pull the trigger two more times. Sam hugged her and told her how proud she was that she had not killed the man.

"Come, kiddo, let's join Alex and Olivia in the living room. It's too early to go to bed."

-x-x-x-

Olivia was alone in the room. She was reading the print-out of General Carter's service record.

"Hey, Liv, would you care for some company or do you want to be alone?"

"No, take a seat, both of you. Would you tell me about your father, Sam?" Olivia asked and put the papers on a side table.

"What do you want to know?"

"I'm not sure, Sam. I read the file, more than once and googled some of the decorations he received but I still don't know anything about him."

"Jacob Carter was an excellent soldier and officer, completely devoted to his duty and his country."

Cassie snorted, "Pfft, you make him sound like a hero but he was no hero. He was a bastard, a selfish, overbearing, controlling, self-righteous, arrogant prick. I can't understand how you can have one positive word for him after everything he did to you, especially after what he said at Mom's wake. He doesn't deserve your love. He belittled you. He tried to control you. He threatened you. I know how often he made you cry, Mum. I'm glad that he's dead, and you should be too."

Sam embraced the younger woman as best as she could with one arm, "Cassie, please, stop. Don't do this to yourself. Don't give him that power."

Sam cast a short glance at Olivia to make her understand that she was also speaking to her, "Everything you said is true, Cassie, but it's not the whole truth. He wasn't always the hard man you knew. My Mum would not have married him if that had been all there was. When I was a child I looked up to him. I wanted to be like him, and I refuse to let my childhood memories be sullied by my feelings for the man Jacob Carter became later in life.

"I know it's hard to understand, Cass, but despite everything he did and said, despite all the things I can never forgive him, there is still a part of me that can't help but love him, and pity him."

"Pity him?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, pity him. He died about a year after Janet. He came to the base, hoping that I could heal him with the healing device I used on Cassie. I tried but it didn't work. He accused me that I would not try hard enough, that I didn't want him to live. He died with hate in his heart, and if I allow myself to forget that I once loved him, I will end like him – with hate in my heart, alone and with no one to mourn me."

"I love you, Mum. I'm sorry that I lost it."

"It's alright, Cassie. Olivia, I'm sorry, that was not the way I wanted you to learn about our father."

Olivia walked over to Cassie and Sam and knelt in front of them, "I'm sorry that he was not a better father to you, Sam. I know what it's like to hate someone and love them at the same time. My mother made me feel that way. And Sam, what you just said proves that you could never end like your father because your heart is full of love not hate."

Olivia reached up and brushed the tears away Sam was crying without being aware of it.

"Thank you, Olivia."

"That's what friends and family are for, Sam. Why don't we all go over to the den? Alex got a fire going and Antonia made tea. There might even be some cookies."

"If I eat just one more bite of anything," Sam said while they stood up, "I'm going to explode. It simply should be illegal to cook this good. I should take some lessons from Antonia."

"Then I better warn her," Cassie said with a grin. She was happy that the subject of Jacob Carter was done for now.

"Warn whom?" Alex asked. She had changed into a pair of sweat pants and was poking the logs in the fire place.

"Warn Antonia. Sam threatened to ask her for cooking lessons. Don't get me wrong, Sam is a genius. She can rebuild a na…a motorcycle with her eyes closed but she's hopeless in the kitchen. Sam can and has burned water."

"Then you have something in common with Alex. She once set her stove on fire," Olivia said and pulled Alex next to her on the couch.

"I'll have you know, Miss Benson, that that's no longer true. I took classes out of self-defense during witness protection. I was surrounded by Mickey Ds and Kentucky Fried Chicken. There wasn't even a decent Chinese take-out or restaurant. Believe me, learning how to cook was necessary for my survival."

"So, will you cook for me when we're back in the city?" Olivia asked with a hopeful smile.

"Only if you ask nicely and pay my price, Liv."

"What is your price? Remember I'm just a lowly detective, my funds are limited."

"Then I'll have to think about something you can afford. Let's see," Alex faked deep concentration. "How about quid pro quo? I cook for you and you cook for me, your Indian curry."

"You got yourself a deal, Councilor." Olivia gave Alex a quick kiss on the cheek and poured tea for all of them.

They stayed and talked until the fire had burned down and then retired to their rooms. Sam once again woke up from the sound of Cassie's nightmare and spent half the night calming her down. Just like the night before she was rewarded with Cassie snuggling up to her. This night it didn't take her as long to fall asleep as before because her shoulder did not hurt that much anymore.

-x-x-x-

The next morning Doctor Martin surprised them all with the announcement that they no longer needed the constant care of a doctor and that he would return to the city after having led them through their physical therapy sessions. He also said that he'd send a nurse to take care of their needs the next day.

Shortly after Doctor Martin had finished with Sam General Hammond called and asked if it would be alright for him to visit in the afternoon. She knew she wouldn't be able to really rest. There were just too many questions left to ask, about the time between her father's first and second tour in Nam, but there also was a part of her that didn't want to know.

So, she asked Alex to show her a secluded spot to meditate while Doctor Martin was busy with Olivia and Cassandra.

"Come, I'll show you to the perfect place. It was my grandmother's favorite. It has a view to a very special part of the garden."

Alex led Sam towards the back of the house, but instead of going to the pool, however, they followed a short corridor to the right which had a door to the left, a double door to the right and a tinted glass door right in front of them. Alex opened the glass door and motioned for Sam to enter first.

It was a glass pavilion with bamboo mats on the floor, flooded with sunlight. Except for a wooden bench on her left the room was empty, if not for the serene atmosphere it would almost have been austere. On the bench stood four bonsai trees. Sam was far from an expert but they all looked to be of different ages.

Alex had followed her gaze and hurried over. She knelt next to what Sam supposed was the youngest of the four trees and gently touched one of the smaller branches. She smiled wistfully.

Sam knelt next to the younger woman and asked, "Are you alright, Alex?"

"I'm fine, Sam. It's just been a very long time since I was here and I had almost forgotten about the trees, Olivia's especially. The one next to it is mine, this one belongs to my mother and the last tree over there was my grandmother's. They stand for the women in the Cabot clan."

"That sounds like a rich family history. Could you tell me more?"

"My great-grandfather, my grandmother's father, he was a diplomat, among other things. He also was a trader and had shares in various mining operations, but that's another story. When my grandmother was a teen her father was the US Ambassador in Japan. Grandma has always had a special appreciation for their culture. She learned how to create bonsai trees and started this one the year they returned from Japan. When she married my grandfather he had that annex built to make her feel more comfortable, the stone garden as well.

"Her tree is over eighty years old. Olivia's tree was added shortly after we had told my mother about our relationship, about one and a half years before I had to go into witness protection."

Sam squeezed Alex' shoulder, "Your grandfather must have been a very special man who cared very much about the women of his family."

"I don't remember much about him. I was three when he died but Grandma told a lot of stories about him and I know that she loved him very much. Every year at his birthday a Japanese Master came here and they had a tea ceremony in his memory."

"This room, it's a beautiful setting, I guess, especially in the evening, with the sun going down over the stone garden. Do you know how to do a tea ceremony?"

"No, I never had the patience to learn. There were just too many details I didn't understand. I'll leave you to your meditation, Sam. Olivia or I will come and get you as soon as the guard announces General Hammond's arrival."

"Thank you, Alex."

-x-x-x-

Sam stayed in front of the miniature trees and studied their form and trimming. Janet could have told her more but it was evident that they were maintained by someone who knew what they were doing. She rose and looked over to the glass panels looking out towards the elaborately simple and harmonious stone garden. The early afternoon sun reflected from the stones and the sand crystals. It was beautiful and serene, but it didn't really beckon her. So, she turned back to the bench with the bonsai trees.

When she was about five feet away she slid into a cross legged position and tried to decide which of the four trees to choose as a focal point. If necessary she could reach a state of kel'no'rem without aides, especially since 'the accident'.

On Atlantis she had started out with using candles but after having set off the fire suppressant system three days in a row she had all but given up on it. A few days later Teyla had gifted her with a small hand-crafted wooden statue which now served as her focal point. Off world she had managed more than once to achieve kel'no'rem without any props but she really liked the statue.

Finally she decided to honor the spirit of the original owner of room by focusing on the oldest tree; that, however, didn't keep her eyes from wandering to the youngest of them time and again. After a few minutes she gave in.

Olivia's tree had a stout trunk. The bark seemed to be smooth but covered with an irregular spider web of tiny lines or scratches, like an old oil painting. At first glance it looked like the tree top was perfectly round but at closer inspection one side leaned towards the next tree, towards Alex' tree, as if reaching out.

Sam smiled and mentally pictured them standing closer together, close enough for the copper-red leaves of Olivia's beach to touch the leaves of Alex' ahern. In her mind's eyes the trees fit as perfectly as the two women they represented, as perfectly as Janet and her had fit. Sam tried to ban that thought.

She had to prepare for her upcoming conversation with General Hammond about her father, not daydream about what she no longer had. That never did any good. She had so many questions she didn't know how to ask.

Sam closed her eyes to nudge her mind into another direction. She wanted her mind to go blank, to gather strength but the image of Alex and Olivia's trees standing snuggled up together as if they were one persisted.

Everything she had learned from Teal'c and Master Bra'tac about kel'no'rem, and everything she had read since in the library of the Ancients, had taught her that forcing her mind in any way during meditation would defeat the purpose and only would make her more tense. Her damaged shoulder didn't allow her to work out to regain her balance, so, there was only one option left: she had to allow her mind to do what it wanted to do.

Sam sighed. Her eyes kept wandering between the two youngest trees, and suddenly, in the space between them she saw one of the pictures she had on the nightstand in her quarters at Atlantis. It was next to the one showing an impromptu tickling session on the couch in their living room between Cassie, Janet and herself taken by a slightly drunk Jack O'Neill.

The image she saw was one of her unmitigated favorites. It showed Janet and her with Jack's cabin in the background. It had just been another prolonged weekend, except that Cassie must have taken hundreds of photos with her new digital camera, a birthday gift from the men of SG-1. There had been dozens upon dozens of pictures of Janet and her: sitting in front of the fire place, in the tiny kitchen, on the couch, on the landing trying to catch non-existent fish.

Sam's all time favorite, however, the one snapshot she relished above all others was showing her with an overflowing grocery bag in her arms and Janet holding out her arms to take the food from her. They were looking at each other, nothing more, but there was enough passion and longing between them that if even one of the don't-ask-don't-tell hardliners had ever seen it she and Janet would have been lucky to get off with a dishonorable discharge. The love they had for each other in this picture was so evident, so blatantly obvious in the expression of their eyes they probably would have sent them to two high security cells in Leavenworth and they would have thrown away the keys.

The picture seemed to come closer and to slowly zoom in on Janet's beautiful, shining, loving brown orbs. They seemed to speak to her, to tell her that everything would be alright and tell her that she was very brave.

Sam felt tears running down her face but for once she didn't care. She knew that she also was smiling. Hurt and comfort were so close together for her ever since Janet's death, she had stopped to question it. It just was.

Moments or hours later she heard the door being opened and recognized Olivia's presence without even having to look around. Seeing the tears Olivia awkwardly bent down and asked her if she was alright.

"I'm fine, Liv, better than fine. Sometimes memories can hurt even though they heal, and I rather have those than none at all." Firming her posture Sam continued, "I guess that General Hammond has passed the gate?"

"Antonia will escort him to the living room. I'll make sure that you will not be disturbed."

-x-x-x-

George Hammond was wearing black slacks and an off-white long sleeved polo shirt. A soft looking dark brown leather jacket was lying on the couch next to a garment bag. His shoes were polished to a shine and he looked as if he had lost a couple of pounds.

"Did Meg drag you off to a shopping spree, Uncle George? This outfit looks good on you," Sam said from the door.

"Sam, I'm so glad to see you. I was worried, Samantha. How are you? We all were worried, heck, we still are worried. And were is Cassie? I have strict orders from Master Teal'c to personally make sure that she is well," George said and crossed the room to take her in his arms.

"I'm fine, Uncle George," Sam answered and stiffened at his touch. There was something wrong with his embrace.

Sam closed her eyes to focus on the feeling; no, there definitively was something wrong with him. She needed more information to really know, for now she distracted him with saying, "Cassie is with Alex at the stables. Olivia said that they wanted to have a look at a mare that is about to foal. We'll have time to talk. Let's take a seat."

After he had complied, Sam asked, "So, what's the verdict? How bad does the IOC and NID want me gone?"

"I have no idea, Samantha, and it's out of my hands since I resigned from Homeworld Security. I know that with all the things Agent Barrett, Doctor Jackson and Jack O'Neill have found they were close to get the IOC to back up and let your unauthorized use of the Stargate slide, but with the President intervening all bets are off. However, making the national news as a hero twice over can't but help you, Sam."

"National news? Yesterday the Assistant US Attorney in charge told us that there would not be a news announcement before Wednesday. How did they connect the cases in any way?"

"I have no idea, Sam. However, you, Cassie, Detective Benson and her squad and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot made the late night news yesterday and you are over all the news channels today."

"Damn it, that's the last thing Cassie needs. She deserves better that that kind of notoriety," Sam said pacing.

"I'm sorry, Sam. You know we'll protect you both as best as we can. The press has already started to bother the guards at the front gate of the Cabot property. I was authorized to send some additional protection, curtsy of General Landry. I asked for volunteers and got every SG team currently on Earth and all but one of the SFs, he recently was reassigned, by the way. I brought three teams. They have already established an extended security perimeter around the property and will also serve as bodyguards to anyone residing here should they need to leave the premises."

"Isn't that a bit of overkill, Sir? The press might get more curious and think that we have something to hide which incidentally we do, the Stargate program," Sam said.

"Jack and I decided that your safety, yours and Cassie's, is more important and District Attorney Branch agrees. He and Miss Carmichael will make a preliminary announcement tomorrow."

Sam only nodded. She had long ago given up on trying to keep the men in her life from being unnecessarily overprotective. So, she just asked, "Has Mrs. Cabot been informed?"

"I think so, but if not we'll take care of that later. Now, tell me how you really are, little one."

George took Sam's free hand between his own, his concern visible in his eyes and on his face. Sam mechanically said, "My shoulder will heal, Uncle George."

She was a bit overwhelmed by what his simple touch taught her about his illness.

"That's not what I asked, Sam. There was so much pain and confusion in your voice when you left that message on my phone. Please, tell me what's wrong."

"It can wait, Uncle George. I'm more interested in you at the moment. Tell me about your heart. What did the doctors say?"

"That's not something you should worry about, Sam. You and Cassie are more important," he said.

"Too late, Uncle George. I already worry. Please, tell me."

"Doctor Lam consulted the best cardiac specialist she could find. They don't know how and why but basically my heart is deteriorating; it's shrinking, for want of a better word. If it progresses at the rate it is now, I have about six months left to live. They both assured me that there's nothing modern medicine can do short of a heart transplant."

"Do Meg and the others know?" Sam asked.

"Yes, my daughters know. I had to tell them because they witnessed a minor heart attack. And before you get any ideas: Vala already tried to repair it with a healing device. It did not work."

Sam closed her eyes to focus on what his body was telling her via the touch of their hands. To George it looked as if she wanted to gather her composure to better deal with the inevitable and accept it, just as he had done months ago. When she reopened her eyes she exuded determination.

"I can help you, Uncle George. All you'll have to do is to trust me and let me touch your chest. I can do a lot through clothing but this will need skin to skin contact. I can repair most of the damage already done and slow down the degeneration process enough that you will be able to see your great-grandchildren be born," she said with confidence.

"You know that I trust you, Sam, but even the new great technology of Atlantis can't perform miracles."

"It's not so much new technology as old abilities I'm talking about, Uncle George. When the Ancient knowledge was downloaded into Colonel O'Neill's brain, he saved Bra'tac by putting his hand on his chest. I can do the same," Sam explained.

"How? You didn't put your head into one of those things, right?"

Sam smiled at the almost O'Neill-like question, "No, Sir. The Ancients called them praeceptor animae. They didn't see the need to put one of them in their own city. The praeceptor animae, the teacher of souls was meant to teach us, the Tau'ri. They were left behind on strategically chosen planets, but we were not meant to find them so soon. The knowledge a praeceptor animae contains was never the goal but a means to an end. The Ancients wanted us to grow spiritually but only when our brain chemistry would be sufficiently developed, when Humans as a race had become Hok'Taur, more than Humans – but I'm getting off topic.

"The point is that a couple of months ago something happened on Atlantis that changed my DNA and gave me some new abilities. I promise I'll tell the whole story some other time. Bottom line is that it gave me the ability to heal simply by touch. When we found Cassie Olivia was injured, her femoral artery was shredded. I repaired it. The EMT were on their way; so, I didn't have the chance to repair all of the damage and I can't promise that I'll even be able to heal you completely, but…"

Sam fell silent and studied her godfather's face. As much as she would like to pressure him more, it had to be his decision.

"I'd like to hear the whole story one day, Samantha. For now tell me about the side effects. If I let you do that, will it harm you in any way?"

"No, Uncle George, it will not harm me. I might need something to eat and a nap after I'm done but that's all."

Sam fervently hoped that he would believe her little white lie. He would never accept her help if he knew that healing him would probably set back the healing of her shoulder. Her body was still taxed from the blood loss and her lack of sleep, and restoring his heart would be more draining than healing Olivia had been. Sam didn't care. It was her chance to give back something of what he had given her over the years. She was aware that he was studying her face, searching for what she was not willing to say.

Finally he seemed content with what he saw and said, "What do I have to do, Sam?"

"Just pull up your shirt and try to relax," Sam answered.

About fifteen minutes later Sam's hand began to tremble, moments later her whole body shock. George felt a wave of heat slamming into his chest and both slumped against the backrest of the couch, unconscious.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	24. Chapter 24: N L P

**CH 24: N L P**

Alex and Cassie found them when they returned from the stables about half an hour later. Cassie panicked and yelled for help which woke General Hammond. Olivia came in and kept her calm long enough to check for Sam's pulse.

"Her heartbeat is strong. Cassie, Sam has some sort of medical scanner in her bag. If I go and get it, do you think that you'll be able to read it? I held it once when Sam brought you out of the coma, but I don't know enough about medicine to really make use of it."

"I can try, Olivia."

Alex motioned for Olivia to stay put and went for the scanner. It gave Olivia the chance to introduce herself and ask what happened. His answer showed that he was shocked finding Sam unconscious.

"I have a heart condition. Colonel Carter said that she could help me. Damn it, Samantha, you said that it would not harm you in any way."

"You care a lot about her," Olivia said.

"As if she were my own daughter, Detective Benson. I never would have allowed her to try to heal me had I known what would happen."

He gently put his hand on Sam's forehead, "It feels as if she's running a light fever. Did that also happen when she healed your leg?"

"I was unconscious then but we can ask Doctor Warner. She was present at the time and she cared for the knife wound at her arm. She will know. I'll call her."

"Belay that, Detective. Let's wait 'til Cassie had a chance to check on Samantha, and when she wakes up I'm going to read her the riot act for not telling me the truth about her new abilities."

Olivia was not someone used to be ordered around by anyone, except for Captain Cragen, but Captain Cragen but somehow it didn't irk her that this virtual stranger had just done that, "Sam cares very much about you, General Hammond. She told me about the time after her mother's death when she was lost and you helped her to find her way. I'm sure that without you she would not have become the woman she is now."

Before George had a chance to reply Alex returned with Sam's laptop bag that also contained General O'Neill's care packet and the med kit from Atlantis.

"Here, that's the thing Sam used. She compared it to a Starfleet Tricorder, but I guess that was only in jest."

"Knowing Samantha, it probably comes close to what it can do. She has years of experience at explaining technical things in a way us lesser mortals can understand," General Hammond said.

Cassandra turned the scanner in her hands and then pressed a button at the side. The small view screen lit up. She directed it towards Sam and it showed two columns of words that at first made no sense to her and numbers.

"Of course, it had to be in Ancient," Cassandra murmured under her breath. A few minutes later she looked up with a smile, "She's only sleeping. Sam is still slightly anemic, her blood pressure and sugar levels are a bit low but not dangerously so. I'm not a doctor but I recommend letting her sleep."

"One day you will be as good as your Mom was," Hammond said with conviction.

"I can only hope so, Uncle George. I'm glad that Mum, that Sam helped your heart, actually, according to this, there is nothing wrong with you. Kayla and Tessa completely freaked when they heard. They need you. Hell, I need you."

Hammond opened his mouth to protest but Cassandra cut him off.

"I know, you only wanted to protect them, but they are old enough now. They need you, not your protection, especially not from something this personal. And before you start to blame your daughters, Kay and Tess overheard them discussing your condition and they confronted them. Besides, I'm glad that you're here, gramps. It's been too long since we last saw each other," Cassie said.

"And I'm glad to see you well and alive, Cassie," he answered, finally closing his arms around the young woman. "I'm sorry that we couldn't protect you."

"It's not your fault, gramps. Even if Mom were still alive I still would have gone to New York for Spring Break and I still would have been kidnapped and raped. It happened and in time I will learn to cope with it. Sam did. I heard her telling Mom about Desert Storm and being captured. She knows what I'm going through."

George Hammond's eyes widened in surprise. So, she added, "I'm Sam's daughter as much as Mom's. I learned early on how to use computers, especially those at the base. I know all about Sam's missions, every tiny detail. I refuse to think about what was done to me in terms of what-ifs. Yes, under different circumstances I might have been spared, under different circumstances my Mom would not have been killed. Under different circumstances that horrible man might have continued his killing spree for who knows how long."

Olivia put an arm around Cassie's shoulders and squeezed, "You really are Sam's daughter, Cassie. Logical to a fault. Why don't we go to the den? We can leave the doors open to keep an eye on Sam."

The others nodded and they adjourned to the adjoining room.

-x-x-x-

Alex excused herself to see that tea and refreshments were brought to them. As soon as Olivia and Cassandra had taken their seats General Hammond saw a file with a very familiar name on it lying on one of the side tables. He automatically picked it up and began to leave through the pages. As far as he could tell the file was complete, except for the mention of anything related to the Stargate.

"That's General Carter's personal file. It should not be here. What's going on, Detective Benson?"

"Cassie, could you please leave us?" Olivia asked.

"Are you sure, Liv? I can help."

"It will be fine. Go and sit with Sam. You'll be able to hear us and can interfere should it become necessary. I have to do this my way. Please!"

Cassandra nodded, and pushed herself up on her crutches and returned to the living room. She sat down on the edge of the couch and combed a loose strand of hair back behind Sam's left ear. She liked the long hair, but somehow she missed the wild look Sam sported when she had come to live with Sam and Janet.

"So, I'm listening. That file should only be accessible by authorized personnel."

"Sam printed it out for me. It has to do with the reason Sam called you, but frankly, I don't know where to start, and there's so much I can't explain.

"I'm not someone who makes friends easily, but with Sam, we just clicked. I do not trust easily, but I trusted Sam, from the beginning. When we work together it's as if we had been partnered for years. We can finish each other's sentences and to a certain degree anticipate the other's thoughts. It helped us to do what we needed to do. So, I didn't give it much thought, until Melinda, our medical examiner and one of the doctor's who cared for Cassandra and Sam and me, until Melinda showed us these."

Olivia pulled the print-outs of the DNA panels from the end of the file and handed it to George.

"The lab techs had problems to process some of the blood from the warehouse where we found Cassandra. I trust you know how to read DNA panels."

George stared at the print-outs as if they were Ba'al holding a ribbon device over his heart. Finally, he looked up, "You and Samantha are sisters. You have the same father. How? Did your mother have an affair with Jacob Carter, and when?"

"I'm the product of rape, General Hammond, and as for the when; according to General Carter's file between his first and second tour in Vietnam," Olivia said.

"Impossible," George shouted and shot up from his seat. "Jacob could be a bastard, especially to his children, but he was not a rapist."

"Please, calm down and sit, General Hammond. I know General Carter was your friend but let me give you the other facts before you decide that the DNA evidence is lying."

He reluctantly sat down and Olivia laid out everything she knew about her mother's rape and the two other victims with the same modus operandi. She ended with describing how Sam had found out and how she had reacted to the news.

George once again rose, slower this time, and started to pace. Olivia allowed him the time to digest the information. After a while he stopped and turned around, "I owe you an apology for my earlier outburst, Detective Benson. You are right, DNA does not lie, and your mother also deserves an apology, as well as those other women.

"I should have kept a closer eye on Jacob when we came to New York to let off some steam before returning home to our families. Our last mission had been an unmitigated disaster, more than half of our platoon died due to faulty intel. We wanted other images in our heads than our comrades dying. That's why we came to the city that never sleeps. It was supposed to give us some perspective, but Jacob bounced back too fast. I should have known then."

"You are not my father's keeper, Uncle George," Sam said from the door. She still felt slightly dizzy but refused to stay in the other room when she had recognized the subject of the conversation.

"But I should have been, Sam. I promised your mother that I would keep him out of trouble, and I thought that I had when I pulled him from the girl on our last night."

"Would you please elaborate, Sir," Sam said after Cassie had forced her to sit down on the couch.

"We did a lot of partying and clubbing, but most nights I turned in before your father. On our last night we went to our rooms together because we were scheduled for an early flight. On the way we passed a young woman with flaming red hair and moments later Jacob excused himself. He told me to go ahead and that he needed some more cigarettes.

"There was something in his eyes that did not let me believe him. So, I followed him at a distance and it quickly became clear that he was not going for cigarettes but following the redhead. I couldn't make any sense of it but then he looked around as if to check out that they were alone. He didn't see me. Jacob stopped her and pressed her against an iron wrought fence. I hurried over. He had started to drag her down a short flight of stairs. I apologized to the woman and practically dragged him to our rooms.

"I asked him if he had completely lost his mind and he tried to convince me that it had all been in jest, that he had only wanted to teach her to be more careful the next time. I wanted to believe him but his eyes were so cold, a calculating coldness he only ever showed in battle. From then on I tried to be more vigilant when we were on leave together but I never witnessed any other incident. I had no idea that I had already been too late."

Sitting on the armrest of the couch it was as if he had almost been speaking to himself. He looked up and sought eye contact with Olivia, "I'm really sorry, Detective Benson."

"Please call me Olivia. And Sam is right, Sir, you're not your friend's keeper and on the plus side your interference kept a fourth rape from happening. That's all anyone can ask."

"I'm glad that you think so, Olivia, and please call me George, after all you're now part of the family. You're in for a wild ride, Samantha's boys are a handful and Samantha herself has a tendency to get into trouble," he said to change the subject.

"I do not. Don't believe him, Liv. I do not get into trouble. I get others out of trouble."

"Which usually gets you into trouble."

Before Sam had a chance to challenge her godfather to give some examples Alex and Antonia entered carrying two trays, followed by Caroline Cabot who held a pot of tea and a second pot of coffee.

-x-x-x-

Sam was still tired; so she didn't participate much in the conversation but thanks to Caroline's skill as a hostess the afternoon went by comfortably and the women were disappointed to see him go. Cassie even said so.

"I'll stay close by, Cassie. President Hayes has asked me to serve as an observer or a liaison between Washington and the law enforcement agencies involved in the cases involving Colonel Carter and yourself. I have a room at the Hyatt. You can reach me there or on my cell phone.

"Oh, Sam, before I forget; the garment bag in the other room holds your dress uniform, just as requested, complete with shoes and hat, and I personally made sure that it has all the shiny bits as Jack would call them. And apropos Jack, I'm to tell you not to fret about the meeting tomorrow afternoon. He will call you as soon as it's over.

"Take care of yourself and Cassie, and of your sister. I have a feeling that she too has the tendency to get into trouble," George said with a wink towards Olivia who just grinned and shrugged her shoulders.

He embraced Cassandra and Sam and then pulled Olivia into a hug.

"I don't get into trouble. I am trouble," she whispered in his ear.

He laughed and the women escorted him out to his car.

At Olivia's and Cassie's insistence Sam consented to take a nap and to her own surprise she slept until it was time for dinner. She even was hungry enough to take a second helping and laughed in surprise when Antonia produced a bowl of blue Jell-o for her as dessert. Olivia tried one spoonful and declared that Sam must have her strange taste in desserts from her mother's side. It was a relaxed end to a very tiring day.

Sam's night once again was marked by Cassandra's nightmares and she had a hard time to wake up when Olivia came to tell her that George Huang and a few others were on the way through the front gate.

-x-x-x-

"I want to try it, Doctor Huang. I want those men to pay for what they did. I want to look into their faces when the jury finds them guilty, and to do that I need to remember, all of it, especially the part my mind apparently edited out. So, how will that work? Will you pull out an old fashioned pocket watch and let it swing from a silver chain? Or will I have to count down from one hundred?"

George laughed, "I'm sorry to disappoint, Miss Fraiser. I'm just going to talk to you, that's all. I would prefer to do is somewhere where you feel safe to make it easier for you to relax. The more you relax the easier it will be."

"Sam, would you hold me while we do it?"

"Of course, sweetie, always. Whenever you're ready."

"Let's do it now, right here, before I lose my nerve. Sam, can you hold me like you did in the beginning, when Mom told me stories to teach me about life in America?"

"You've grown a bit since then, Cassie, but I don't see why not."

Sam quickly removed her sling and slipped out of her sneakers. She turned to the side and leaned with her back against the armrest of the couch. Cassandra sat down between her legs and leaned against Sam's chest. Sam carefully closed her arms around Cassie's middle.

"I'm ready, Doctor Huang."

George smiled at her and told her to close her eyes. She looked back at Sam as if to reassure herself that she was really there. Cassie led her eyelids close and only then turned her face back to him.

George began to speak. His voice was calm and soothing. After only a couple of minutes Sam was thankful for the throbbing pain in her shoulder because it kept her from falling under the spell of the psychiatrist's words as well. It didn't take her analytical mind long to recognize the pattern. He used NLP, neuro linguistic programming, and Cassandra's deep, regular breathing and the tension slowly leaving her body were proof enough that it worked.

It was an interesting demonstration of the power of words, at least it could have fascinated her had she not been so worried for her daughter. Sam focused on her shoulder but the intense pain was soon relegated to the back of her mind when George began to lead Cassie back to the night of her kidnapping.

Sam tried to distance herself mentally from the horrible details Cassandra was slowly revealing. It didn't work. George's careful guiding and Cassie's words painted very vivid pictures, images that would induce nightmares even in the most hardened of minds. Sam felt tears running down her face. Under normal circumstances she would have been mortified, but on this day she didn't care. She had long ago accepted that she had no walls and no defenses when her adopted daughter was concerned.

The rational part of Sam's mind was grateful that Cassie had opted for hypnosis instead of lucid dreaming. When she had tried to access Jolinar's memories using lucid dreaming it had been an almost traumatic experience because it had been so real, like living through it all over again. George's guiding words, fortunately, allowed Cassie to see things from an outside perspective, no not really an outside perspective but it seemed as if she was somehow protected by a thin layer of distance and rationality.

This protection, unfortunately, did not work on Sam's vivid imagination, and it also didn't diminish the murderous thoughts a part of her entertained for Carl Kelles. She wanted to make him pay. She wanted to do to him what he had done to her daughter. She wanted to see pain and fear in his eyes. She wanted to hear him cry out, wanted to hear him beg for his life. She wanted revenge.

Cassie moved in her arms. Her fingers curled around the biceps of her injured arm. Pain erupted from her shoulder and seemed to invade every cell of her body, and it snapped her effectively out of her violent fantasies. Cassandra continued to talk, and what Kelles had made Cassie go through let everything Sam had gone through since joining the Air Force appear like child's play, at least in her eyes.

Finally, after what seemed like hours Cassandra's guided recall reached the moment when she had woken up in Williamson's custody, bound to the metal table. George tried to also get Cassie to relate those memories though they already had her statement and a complete video documentation. Cassie's body language, however, made it clear that she would not go that extra stretch, and the FBI profiler was sensitive and wise enough not to press. He started to guide her out of her trance as gently as he had induced it.

Cassandra finally opened her eyes again, looked at him, told him that she was alright, then she curled to the side, sending another wave of pain through Sam's shoulder, and fell asleep. George observed her for a while, her breathing and her eye movements and when he was sure that she would not wake up any time soon he offered Sam to help her to extricate herself from the couch.

Sam refused, "I'm fine, George. I'll watch over her sleep. I don't want her to wake up alone should she have another nightmare."

George accepted her words seemingly at face value but the reassuring hand he put on her uninjured shoulder told her that he had seen through her underlying motivation, that he knew what she probably never would admit: she simply didn't feel up to any kind of socializing.

Sam soon joined Cassandra in sleep and for the next few hours they slept undisturbed by bad dreams.

-x-x-x-

Abbie, Casey and Alex had sequestered themselves in the library talking legalese that had sent Olivia running after less than an hour. The detective had fled to the kitchen and Antonia had put her to work. Olivia helped making a fresh batch of cookies that was delivered to the library only minutes after it had been pulled out of the oven together with some glasses and a carafe filled with cold milk. At Olivia's question she was told that Alexandra and Abigail worked better together with the help of some comfort food. Olivia had then assisted in preparing lunch.

Instead of driving back to Manhattan, now that his work was basically done, George opted to stay just in case his professional assistance would be needed later in the day. Caroline allowed him to use an empty office to transcribe the recording he had made of the session with Cassandra. He knew that the young woman would remember everything when she woke up, every detail of her ordeal. He also knew that someone would have to take her amended statement, and he wanted to be there for that.

Over the years he had handled and witnessed a lot of NLP guided trances but it never had been as easy as with Cassandra, relatively speaking. What the young woman had had to tell had been horrific and he had been hard pressed to keep his professional mask in place. Her words had been precise and lively enough to let him create vivid pictures in his mind, despite his training. He had, however, also registered that Cassandra herself did not seem as bothered, as stricken as other patients had been in the past, talking about less horrendous traumas.

Dinner time came and to George's surprise he was not even halfway through Cassandra's session. Everyone sat down to eat, except for Sam and Cassie who were still sleeping on the couch. Olivia had regularly checked on them throughout the day and everyone was relieved that there had been no sign of nightmares.

Abbie and Casey had originally planned on returning to the city in the evening, but they still had work to do for the Grand Jury scheduled the next day and George had assured them that Cassandra Fraiser could testify tomorrow. So, they returned to the library together with Alex and George went back to the small study, determined to finish his transcript.

A couple of hours later Caroline knocked on his door. She entered the room carrying a tray with two tumblers and a bottle of single malt.

"It's late, Doctor Huang, tomorrow will be another day for work. Will you join me for a night cap?"

"I'd love to, Mrs. Cabot. Why don't we have a seat over there?"

He pointed to a low table and a set of Thonet armchairs in tune with the 1920s style of the room. Caroline poured them both a generous amount of the amber liquid and handed him the crystal glass. They toasted each other but they didn't speak. George was by no means an expert on hard liquids but the few times he actually had tried some they had burned his throat going down. Whatever Caroline Cabot had served to him didn't. It was smoky but not too much, earthy, full, soothing. The first sip had hit him unaware but he closed his eyes at the second sip and savored it going down like smooth silk. He felt himself relax and smiled at his hostess.

"I'm told that I'm a pretty good listener, Doctor Huang, and sometimes even a professional listener like yourself needs someone willing to lend an ear, or we could talk about weather."

"How much do you know, Mrs. Cabot?" He asked.

"The basics, but that's enough, I think. I know that whatever Miss Fraiser has told you this morning must have been extremely disturbing."

George surprised himself by answering, "Yes, it was. With the FBI I interviewed serial killers and in the years with SVU I heard stories even more harrowing than that of Cassandra Fraiser, but somehow it got to me more than many other witness and victim statements I've heard."

"Do you know why?" Caroline asked.

George took another sip of single malt, "I do not know for sure. I would have to speculate."

They were silent for a few minutes but it was a comfortable silence that allowed him to think without pressuring for answers.

"When Alexandra told me five years ago that she had turned down a promotion to major cases in favor of staying with the Special Victims Unit I didn't understand. That promotion would have taken her a step closer to the DA's chair. She told me that Special Victims needs a prosecutor who was completely invested in helping the victims and getting justice for them. She said they deserved better than a political animal only out to serve their own ends. I still didn't understand, but then she told me about a few of her cases, and she told me Olivia's story. She said that Olivia had joined the police force because she refused to be a victim of her mother's rape and that being with the SVU was the closest she could get to getting justice for her mother."

Caroline finished her whiskey and let George think on her words.

"You are right, Mrs. Cabot. Miss Fraiser's story hit me more because she refuses to be, to stay a victim. It's her strength that makes it more horrible. Thank you for helping me see that, Mrs. Cabot."

"You're welcome, Doctor Huang. Now, let me escort you to one of the guest rooms."

-x-x-x-

The three prosecutors had just fetched another pot of coffee to keep on working and Olivia had decided to turn in early. Before she went upstairs she woke Sam and Cassie who had slept through lunch and dinner. She didn't want them to spend the whole night on the couch. When Antonia saw that they were up, somewhat at least, she insisted that they had something to eat before going to bed again.

As usual Sam settled down in the bed next to Cassie's with her sling still on, and only then it occurred to her that Jack's promised phone call about the meeting at the White House had never come. It was improbable to think that it was still going on at this hour. For a moment she considered calling Daniel to find out but finally decided against it. What was done was done; her fate was no longer in her hands.

The first thing Sam registered when she woke up the next morning was that she was still wearing the sling while the nights before she had taken it off to better soothe Cassie's nightmares. There was a weight on her uninjured shoulder and when she looked over she saw the Cassie's head pillowed there. The third thing of which be became aware was the fact that they both were lying in her bed and not in Cassie's and that someone had pulled a comforter over them and tucked it in at the left and right side of the bed, under the mattress.

When she turned her head to the other side she saw that the curtains had been almost drawn shut and that bright sunlight was trying to penetrate the barrier. She let her gaze wander around and was surprised to be greeted by the smiling face of Caroline Cabot.

"Good morning, Colonel Carter."

"Sam, please call me Sam. Is it still morning?"

"For Long Island standards it's still morning. From a military point of view, however… And I refuse to shorten a perfectly beautiful name, Samantha. Please, call me Caroline, after all we're family now, in a manner of speaking. This morning at breakfast Olivia filled me in on your family affiliation, and since I regard Olivia as my daughter-in-law you and Cassandra are family as well."

"Thank you, Caroline. Is that why you're guarding our sleep?" Sam asked, slightly surprised that Cassie had not woken from the sound of their voices.

"No, not really. You were having nightmares and though you calmed down considerably after Cassandra had climbed in bed with you, Doctor Huang still thought that it would be a prudent precaution to watch over both of you. Everyone took a turn. Abigail and Casey returned to New York for the Grand Jury and the press conference. Alexandra is in a conference call with a few other DAs who have the preposterous idea that they know better how to prosecute the Williamson case and Olivia is busy with doing her physical therapy. I was the next best choice. So, why don't you wake Cassandra up and come down to the kitchen for a late breakfast?"

"Thank you, we will. Give us about half an hour."

"Take as long as you need, Samantha."

Caroline Cabot had been a surprise to her, not only by her presence at their bedside. She was not really sure what she had expected from the matriarch of a family as influential as the Cabot clan but being accepted with open arms after the older woman had learned what her father had done had not been it. For a moment she wished that her father was still alive, so that she could hunt him down in one or the other Tok'ra hide-outs and get him to at least admit his crime and explain his actions, if only to give Olivia some closure.

Cassie began to move at her side and that brought her out of her thoughts, "Good morning, Cassie. Are you ready for some breakfast?"

"Breakfast sounds good. Are you alright, Sam?"

"I'm fine, Cassie. It was just a dream, nothing unusual."

"It was more than that, Mum. I know how your nightmares sound. This night was different. Your nightmares were about me, about what I told Doctor Huang. I should have known what having to listen to that would do to you. I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

Sam had the distinct feeling that Cassie was talking about more than her bad dreams. So, she sat up and looked the young woman in the eyes, "What are you talking about, sweetie? You didn't ask to be attacked and raped."

"I could have run away with the others and nothing would have happened," Cassie said in a small voice.

"I want you to read something, Cassie."

Sam rose and pulled her laptop out of her bag. She called up the testimonies Cassandra's friends had given to the Denver Police Department, "Read this, Cassie."

"I was there, I know what happened," Cassie said defensively.

"Please, sweetie, read it, and you will see that it was not your fault, none of it. Trust me, Cassie."

Sam positioned herself behind Cassandra and put her uninjured arm around her shoulders in support. Long minutes passed in silence.

"They make me out like I'm some hero, but I'm not. I was stupid to try to take on six men."

"Your friends would not have escaped unscathed had you not done what you did, kiddo. You did your trainers proud, and nothing that happened was even remotely your fault. You did the right thing, Cassandra Fraiser. I'm proud of you and I know your Mom would be as well."

Cassandra's eyes welled up and she began to cry, thick salty drops that ran down her cheeks in a continuous stream. Sam quickly unhooked the sling constricting her movements and pulled her daughter into her arms. The silent tears turned into sobs and Sam just held her and allowed her to let it all out.

Since that one time the first day after waking up from her coma Cassie had not shed a single tear. It was a good sign that she now was able to let her grief out. Sam stroked Cassie's back and gently massaged the nape of her neck.

When the crying finally died down Sam began to speak, "You are very brave, Cassie. You always were and you always will be. I know that having to remember what really happened is hard, but I also know that you will grow stronger from it, in time and with professional help. We have a good psychologist on Atlantis. Her name is Kate and she is really nice. If you talk to her you would not have to lie about your past or what your Mom did for a living. She already has the clearance necessary, and should Atlantis not work out then we'll find someone here on Earth. I'm sure that Doctor Huang can give us some names and an introduction or two, and I will be with you every step of the way for as long as you need me or until you grow tired of my hovering."

Cassie chuckled under her tears. She felt safe in Sam's arms, she always had and she probably always would. Yes, it had been Teal'c who had coaxed her out of her hiding place after everyone else had fallen dead on Hanka, but it had been the warm blue eyes looking at her from behind the mask of the Hazmat suit that had made her trust those strangers. Sam's love and care had always been like a warm blanket. Rationally Cassie knew that Sam would not always be there to rescue her and protect her and pick up the pieces, but in this moment she allowed herself to seek comfort with her, in her arms just like she had when she was eleven years old.

Finally she pushed herself away from the familiar embrace, just enough to be able to look into Sam's eyes, "I love you, Mum."

"I love you too, Cassie."

They sat for a few more minutes until Cassandra's stomach began to grumble. She giggled and said, "If memory serves you promised breakfast."

"That I did, kiddo. Let's get freshened up first. I'm sure that Antonia will be able to silence that monster growling in your belly."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	25. Chapter 25: Surprises

CH 25: Surprises

Brigadier General Jack O'Neill was impatiently pacing the guest room in the White House where he had spent the better part of Monday. His accommodations were luxurious and under different circumstances he would have enjoyed the VIP treatment, but as things were he didn't know what to think.

The scheduled meeting with the President had been cancelled due to some trouble in the Middle East. The President's Chief of Staff had offered him and General Landry rooms in the guest quarters. Major Davis had invited them to dinner and they had been promised that the meeting would be reconvened at the President's earliest convenience.

Jack hated waiting, well, most of the time. When he had still been working with the Beta Unit he often had had to show infinite patience, waiting for his target to appear, for intel to come in, for… Waiting had had a purpose then – at the moment he didn't feel like his waiting had a purpose. He felt as if he had been left in limbo.

For a moment he stopped his pacing and looked out of the window into the park surrounding the White House and onto the well groomed lawn. He absentmindedly registered the guards posted outside, the ones meant to be seen and those meant to be hidden, and he planned out on how to evade them. He shock his head at that pointless exercise, but it was something he always did when he was bored, just like Daniel translated everyday stuff into dead languages or Carter made out complex equations in her head when the briefing or debriefing went on too long and they got bored.

Carter, that damned woman… He flashed back to the conversation he had had with his friend Nick a few days ago. His friend had told him about his interactions with Carter, his voice full of awe and respect for Sam's professionalism and heroism. Jack's heart had skipped a beat at Nick's description of the rescue mission, the shooting and Sam fighting a mad guy with a gun with a bullet hole in her shoulder.

Carter and her damn foolish heroics… One day it would be the death of her, or of him. He was getting too old just hearing about it without risking a heart attack. Everything had been so much easier when he still had been the leader of SG-1. Then he and Teal'c had protected their geeks even when they had ended up in a Goa'uld prison cell, now he was relegated to the sidelines. Jack snorted at his own thoughts. Sam and Daniel were much more than just 'useless' scientists. They both had rescued Jack and Teal'c more than once. No, Sam didn't need protection, hell, she had protected the whole world more times than he cared to remember. Blowing up a sun or helping to catch a serial killer, she did both with equal grace.

Jack's cell phone rang with Daniel's distinct ring tone and he smiled when he crossed the spacious room to pick it up. There were, he admitted, also certain perks to no longer leading SG-1 or even Stargate Command. It had finally allowed him to give into his attraction and take Daniel to bed, and having Daniel in his life, not only as a friend but as his lover, it was everything he ever had dreamed about. Yes, they still had to be careful outside of the privacy of his house or Daniel's apartment but it was worth it.

And with caution so paramount in their relationship he was not surprised when Daniel greeted him in Goa'uld. The topic of the conversation, however, did surprise him.

When Atlantis had made their weekly contact with Stargate Command Sunday afternoon Walter had given them a cliff notes version on everything that had happened. He also had casually mentioned the Monday afternoon meeting at the White House. Then Teyla and Ronan Dex had apparently decided that the side of the Pegasus Galaxy natives should also be heard at that meeting and had stepped through the gate after ordering Walter to open the iris.

Colonel Reynolds, at the time the most senior officer on base, had then tried to contact the White House but had not made it past an assistant of the Chief of Staff. He had been told to send them back to Atlantis immediately via Midway Station. Then the meeting had been postponed and now they both were missing.

"Are you telling me that we have two aliens hell-bent on gaining access to the White House running around?"

"No, Jack, I'm telling you that we have three aliens running around unaccounted for. Vala helped them to get out of the mountain and as far as I know she is with them now. Lieutenant Hailey is running a check on plane tickets to any of Vala's known aliases and is monitoring her bank account but so far there is no sign of them."

"Do you have any idea how much of a head start they have?" Jack asked.

"The security cameras on base last registered them at eleven thirty last night."

"Did Reynolds already debrief Hank?"

"No, we thought it would be better if you did that," Daniel answered.

"Alright, I'll take care of it. Do you have the name of that assistant?" Jack wrote down a short name. "Damn mess. Do you have any idea how we keep them from infiltrating the White House and scaring the crap out of the President and the Secret Service?"

"You were special ops, Jack, and I know what you do to pass the time during boring meetings. Just do your thing, put yourself in their position and you'll find their possible entry points. You and General Landry should try to get to them before they get to the President. Reynolds proposed to contact Sam. She knows all three of them and might have some insight into their thinking. He has a point but I didn't want to drag her into this mess without talking to you first."

"Call her, Danny. Her presence here on Earth is no longer a secret. For crying out loud that damned woman is all over the news. Have her call me after that."

"Will do, Colonel, my Colonel."

"Scoot, space monkey."

It was their way to say 'I love you' at the end of an unsecured phone or other conversation. Some people might have thought it a bit eccentric and too familiar but they were best friends and had worked together for ten years, so a bit of strange familiarity was to be expected.

-x-x-x-

"They did what?"

"No, Daniel, I heard you the first time. I just can't believe it."

"I'll check the layout of the White House and try to find their most plausible point of entry. By the way, have you tried Vala's prepaid cell?"

"No, I'll do it. She probably won't pick it up if it's not me calling."

"Yes, I'll call General O'Neill as soon as I know more. And Daniel, thanks for telling me."

"Yes, Cassie will be fine. Why don't you talk to her yourself?"

Sam handed the phone to Cassandra and excused herself from the breakfast table in the kitchen. She went back to her room to access her laptop, not sure if she should be angry at Teyla and Ronon for their impulsiveness or appreciative of the gesture of care and friendship.

-x-x-x-

Cassandra also shock her head after her talk with Daniel had ended. What Teyla Emmagen and Ronon Dex had done had been dangerous, to say the least, but it was good to know that Sam had friends off-world who were willing to go the extra-mile for her or in that case the extra intergalactic gate jump. Caroline, George and Olivia who had just come in from her physical therapy looked at her expectantly when she put the phone down.

"A couple of civilian friends from Sam's base heard about the trouble Sam has with the brass and they want to have their say. Sam will try to talk them out of it as soon as she has checked something out.

"What do you mean, trouble with the brass?" George asked.

Cassandra gave him a somewhat edited version of the facts, including the postponed meeting with the President of the United States. She missed Caroline Cabot's peculiar expression when Sam returned, grabbed the Blackberry, apologized again for being unsocial and disappeared towards the living room.

Olivia, on the other hand, had not missed it, and she had seen that expression often enough to know that Caroline undoubtedly was up to something, and probably something Sam would not appreciate should she learn about it. Being the head of one of the wealthiest families in the Tri-State-area meant that Caroline knew a lot of people in high places and she was not shy in using her influence to help friends and family. Olivia also knew that Caroline liked to play her cards close to her chest and would not let anyone into her confidence until she had done what she had set out to do. So, she changed the subject back to more mundane matters.

-x-x-x-

Sam dialed the number of Vala's private cell phone. She let it ring twice and ended the call. She redialed, let it ring three times and once again hung up. When she called a third time it was picked up at the third ring.

"Samantha, are you alright? I heard you got in the way of a bullet and gave the good Carolyn quite the scare."

"I'm fine, Vala, nothing that will not heal in time. How's your road trip?"

"A bit more hurried than I had originally planned. I'm really glad that your friends are quick learners. It would have been hell would I have to drive the whole way on my own. With Teyla and Ronon taking over sporadically, it's even some fun. Better than sitting around at the mountain. Things there were getting a bit boring lately, you know?"

Sam sighed dramatically, "At least tell me that you didn't steal the car."

"I didn't steal the car, Samantha, I bought it, months ago. I wanted to take my time getting to know your country, not rush from point A to point B. Stealing a car would have been more fun, but you Tau'ri are so narrow minded about those technicalities.

"So, what up, Sam? This probably is not a social call."

"Oh, Vala, please, the innocent act does not work with me. I called to talk you out of invading the White House. The President is very well protected and his guards are not shy in using their guns."

"It's not my call, Samantha. I'm just the driver and tour guide," Vala answered. "You should talk to Teyla."

There was a bit of rustling at the other end and then Sam heard Teyla's voice, "Sam, are you alright? How is Cassandra?"

"My shoulder will heal, Teyla, and Cassie will also heal, in time. She has gone through hell, but Cassie is a strong, young woman. Let's talk about that when we see each other in person."

"So, be it."

"Teyla, do you know how dangerous that was, going through the gate the way you did? You could have been killed and your people would have lost their leader. I'm not worth such a risk."

"You are worth that and much more, Samantha Carter, and it was a calculated risk. You are that important, and as to what I was thinking? That's easy. I was thinking that someone at this meeting should be on your side, one hundred percent, just like you are on our side, someone who knows what it means to fight the Wraith – and as your allies Ronon and I are uniquely qualified to do just that. We have the right to take part in deliberations that influence our future and survival. My people respect you, Sam, you have proven your loyalty to them. And your people need to know that. Nothing you say will change my mind. We are determined to talk with your leader, your President, regardless of what it takes."

The steely tone of voice made it clear to Sam that this would be a discussion she could not win, so, she didn't even try.

"Thank you, Teyla, thank you, Ronon. I'm touched by your loyalty and concern and I will not try to convince you otherwise, but I want you to play it safe. Do not try to sneak into the White House. I don't want any of you to get hurt."

Sam heard Ronon huff at the other end of the line, "I don't doubt your abilities. In fact, with Vala at your side I'm confident that you could circumvent the security system and get around the Secret Service Agents, but if you want the President to really listen to what you have to say, if you want him to trust your judgment you will have to play by his rules."

"Vala thinks that it would shock them to their senses if we simply appeared in this round room he works in," Teyla said.

"The Oval Office. Yes, I can imagine that she would say that. And I admit that it would be an impressive demonstration, but it will put all three of you in danger and for what you want to accomplish it could be quite counterproductive. Let me call General O'Neill. He will find an official way to get you into this meeting should it ever take place. Jack O'Neill can be very persuasive if he wants to. If you simply startle the President, he will not trust you, and he needs to trust you, at least to some degree to give credence to your words. You will have to prove your honesty and sneaking up on him would definitively send the wrong message."

"I see your point. I too am more open to people who come at me with their hands out than with their hands hidden behind their backs. We'll do it your way," Teyla answered.

"Thank you, Teyla. Thank you, Ronon. I hope we will get a chance to meet when all of this is over."

"We will, Sam. I'm looking forward to get to know Cassandra. We will see each other soon."

"I'm looking forward to this, Teyla. Could you give the phone back to Vala, please. You'll need General O'Neill's phone number. Call him as soon as you enter DC."

"Hey, Sam. I already have his number. He gave it to me should Daniel get into trouble, but let me tell you I'm not happy about this change in plans. It takes the fun out of everything," Vala complained. "You're just like Daniel and Carolyn, you never let me have any fun anymore."

"You had plenty of fun sneaking Teyla and Ronon out of the mountain, Vala, and don't try to deny it. However, I'll make it up to you. How about some shopping in New York. I'm sure that Alex and Olivia will know all the good places to go."

"I'll take you up on that, Sam, and now call Daniel's General. It's my turn to take the wheel for a while."

"Drive carefully, Vala."

"And where would be the fun in that?" Vala asked and ended the call.

Sam shock her head at her alien friends and called General O'Neill. He promised her to do his best to get Teyla and Ronon into the meeting with the President, and since Jack in his own inimitable way was a force of nature Sam had no doubt that he would succeed.

-x-x-x-

When Sam returned to the kitchen she found only Antonia who insisted that she sat down to finish her breakfast before it would be her turn for physical therapy. The PT specialist, an auburn haired woman with an, in Sam's opinion, overtly cheerful disposition seemed impressed with her progress. To Sam, being able to painstakingly raise her arm almost to chest level was not real progress. The only thing it did prove to her was that healing General Hammond had not done further damage to her shoulder. And that, though a relief, was not progress and she found the experience utterly frustrating.

Her day did not improve when she found out that Cassandra had already started to give her amended statement to Alex and Olivia and didn't want her to be present. She even had left a note to make sure of it. Sam knew that Cassie only wanted to protect her by keeping her from having to hear about the details of her ordeal a second time, but it still hurt. She wanted to be there for Cassie. She wanted, no, she needed to protect her, but instead the young woman did her best trying to protect Sam. Sam didn't need protection, she already knew what Carl Kelles and his men had done to her little girl and hearing it again would not make it worse.

In fact Cassandra's words from the day before were not far from her mind, down to the inflection of her voice and including the mental images that voice had created in her mind. It also brought back the graphically violent thoughts of the revenge she wanted to visit on Carl Kelles, a revenge that would make a stay in Ba'al's torture chamber appear like a spa day.

Sam felt herself brimming with angry energy that needed an outlet. With her shoulder the way it still felt, it was out of the question to go in search of the next gym with a punching bag as she usually would have done. So, Sam put on her running shoes, left a message with Antonia that she was going for a walk and crossed the lawn behind the house to the beginning of a path Olivia had told her about. According to the detective it was the start of a three miles' trail leading to the beach.

Sam rationally knew that in her current physical condition doing the round trip would be extremely taxing. She also knew that Janet would have read her the riot act for even thinking of going for a run in the first place, but a part of her, deep down, knew that she had to do it to get rid of at least some of the tension she still felt building up inside of her. It was the same part that drove her to haunt the science labs in Atlantis at night and let her join Teyla and sometimes Ronon in their early morning drills.

She started to stretch as soon as she had reached the tree line. She took a deep breath and then began a light jog along the slightly overgrown trail. Her legs quickly feel into their familiar rhythm but every step jarred at her shoulder, sending pain through her whole body. It made it hard to breathe regularly but after a few dozen steps she managed to ignore most of the pain.

Sam picked up her pace and her breathing rhythm slowly evened out. Under the canopy of the spring leaves she felt the anger that had grabbed her heart like in a vicious vice slowly loosening its grip. It became even easier to breathe and only then was she able to start to enjoy her surroundings, the sounds of the forest, the sun partially breaking through, the smell of .,..

Smoke, she smelled cigarette smoke. All of her senses immediately kicked into high alert. The smell came from the south-east, slightly in front of her and to her right off the beaten path. Sam realized that she must have come up to one of the perimeter guards General Hammond had mentioned. She felt no eyes on her, so, they probably didn't yet know of her approach. Smoking while on guard duty in a forest was never a good idea, for more than one reason. At Stargate Command even the civilians knew better.

Sam decided to pay the negligent airman a surprise visit. She found a man in BDUs and another one wearing the uniform of a police officer. They were standing at the edge of a small clearing about fifty yards from the trail, talking softly, the police officer occasionally sucking on his cigarette – and both seemed to be oblivious to their surroundings.

She circled them and sneaked closer from behind the police man. The Special Forces soldier, a member of SG-8, if memory served, winked at her. Sam deliberately let her left foot make an audible shuffle on the ground. The officer didn't react. The SF gave her a hand signal that he would not interfere. Sam's next steps made no sound. She waited for the officer to snuff out his cigarette and put him in a one-armed chokehold. She knew that her hold would not stand up against Marine training or Jaffa conditioning. Everyone at the SGC and most people in Atlantis could have broken her hold, the police officer did not.

"You should never smoke in an area where smoke can be detected by smell, Officer," Sam said and let go of him. "It can be hazardous to your health."

The SF straightened and stood at attention, unhurriedly and with a smile on his face, "Colonel Carter. It must be boring at your base for you to come here and make the news. You should not be out here, injured and without protection."

"At ease, Sergeant Morgan. I was not the target. So, why didn't you stop your colleague from smoking? You know that it could give you away."

"I counted on my ability to detect and scare off a couple of nosy journalists without having to be particularly stealthy. And I sure didn't expect to be caught with my pants down by a superior officer, especially not by you, Colonel Carter. Rumor has it that you once again escaped death by a thin margin, but I'm glad to see that for once the grapevine was wrong. But still you should not be out here, unarmed and without protection; instead of us you could have run into a bunch of journalists."

"Duly noted, Sergeant, and you're right. I guess I didn't think this through, but you know how it is, sometimes one just needs to let off some steam and I can't take my anger out on a punching bag at the moment."

Under other circumstances Sam would not have been this open and honest, but this man, Sergeant Morgan, had fought in almost as many off-world battles and skirmishes as she had and she had met him more than once in the gym trying to work out some anger or frustration or hurt or grief over a sandbag before going home to his family.

Sam turned her attention to he police officer now standing next to her, "I apologize for the sneak attack, Officer. I couldn't resist the temptation. Are you with the local police?"

"Yes, ma'am. Officer James Lindy, at your service," he answered.

"Colonel Samantha Carter, but I guess you know that. Nice to meet you. I guess you know your way around these parts. About half a mile back I passed through a breach in the fence closing off the Cabot property. Wouldn't it be easier to simply guard the fence?"

"There are only three trails leading to the fence, ma'am. This is one of them and the other two are also under observation. We were ordered to catch any sign of trouble long before it could come in shouting distance of the Cabot Estate."

"I understand. I wanted to go to the beach but now that I have been reminded of the looming press I think that would not be too bright an idea."

"You're right, ma'am. Though I think today the main players are at the press conference in New York, but those remaining get more brazen every day. We already had to turn back two teams and a photographer coming from there. Technically it's a private beach but the Cabots have never tried to enforce that."

"I see. So, it might be best to return to the house, I guess. Well, a short run is better than no exercise at all," Sam said with a shrug of her shoulders she immediately regretted.

"If you had continued on the path instead of coming to us you would have found another trail forking off from this one. If you follow it, it leads around most of the back of the Estate to another breach in the fence, and ultimately to the back of the stables. The path meanders a bit, stretching it out to about one and a half more miles."

"Sounds like a good alternative, Officer Lindy. Did you spent much of your youth sneaking on the Cabot property?"

"There was no need to sneak. The breeches in the fence are there on purpose but only us locals know about them and we never would do anything to hurt Mrs. Cabot. She is one of us," Lindy answered a bit testily.

"I meant no disrespect, Officer Lindy. I apologize. I hope the rest of your shift stays uneventful."

"So do we. Colonel Carter, if I may ask, Cassie Fraiser, will she be alright? We're all worried."

"Her injuries are healing and she has her mother's inner strength. In time she will be fine. Thanks for asking."

"She's family, Colonel. Have a nice run; I hear someone coming." Morgan said.

"I hear them as well. I'll leave you to do your job."

Sam ran off. A part of her wanted to linger to observe how the two of them would handle the four people who tried unsuccessfully to be quiet while walking through the underbrush. But it was not her job to judge their performance; so, she shrugged her control issues off, this time only mentally. Having interrupted her run had brought back the pain in her shoulder to a level that was hard to ignore. It took longer than the last time to settle into an almost comfortable running rhythm but eventually she did and could once again focus on her surroundings.

-x-x-x-

Sam found the second breach in the fence without problems and reached the tree line a few minutes later. The back of the stable was about thirty yards in front of her and she saw two crouched figures looking cautiously around the corner towards the main house. They quickly stepped back, pushed two of the wooden panels forming the back wall of the stable to the side and went in. It was only then that she registered that the two intruders were too small to be anything but children. They probably only wanted to spend time with the horses.

Sam was about to just let it go and return to the house when it occurred to her that their presence meant that there was a way to get to the house without being intercepted by the perimeter guards, and in Sam's mind that was worth investigating.

The panels made no sound when she pushed them to the side and stepped through the opening, but Sam had not counted on being attacked from both sides before she even had the chance to straighten up to her full height. A mud puddle close to the opening let her slip. She went down and landed on her injured shoulder. Pain flared up along her spine and exploded behind her eyes. Years of fighting off-world let her hold on to consciousness and she snorted when the two kids became aware that she was not the person they had expected.

"Fuck, that's not Julia," a boy's voice said.

"Watch your language, kid," Sam said from behind clenched teeth automatically acting on some sort of maternal instinct.

She tried to sit up, a mistake she regretted when a new wave of pain made her retch and throw up the remnants of her breakfast. The second child, a girl about ten years old, handed her the bucket they apparently had used to create the mud puddle in the first place. It was just in time. Her revolting stomach did hurt her shoulder even more and for a moment she feared that the fall had done some damage.

Sam closed her eyes to listen to her body, tuning out the whispered conversation going on next to her. She heard footsteps retreating hurriedly and felt someone kneeling next to her. Sam kept her eyes closed and focused on getting the pain back to a manageable level. She kept her breathing calm and shallow, and when she finally opened her eyes she was reasonably sure that except for a few probably torn stitches her shoulder was fine.

She looked into the face of a clearly worried boy of about ten or eleven years. She smiled at him and that encouraged him to start speaking or rather babbling.

"You're that woman from the news. We're sorry, we didn't want to hurt you. We thought you were someone else. Karen ran over to the house to get Antonia. She's going to make it right. I'm sorry you got hurt. It's all our fault, and now you're bleeding and you're sick to your stomach and…"

Sam put her hand on his shoulder to reassure him and get him to let her speak, "Calm down, would you. I'm fine. Take a deep breath and tell me your name."

"Adrian Jefferson Jr. You're that Air Force Officer, Colonel Carter, you're prettier than on the screen. They say that you're a hero and heroes don't lie. You're bleeding, so, you're not fine," he said in a small voice that made him appear very young.

"The fall or rather my ungraceful landing tore a few stitches. It can be easily repaired. I promise I will be fine, Adrian. Your ambush was well executed. I give you that. Do you and your friends come here for the horses?"

"Yes. Mrs. Cabot said that it's alright. Karen and Julia like horses but they can't have any of their own. We usually come on Mondays and Thursdays only but Flame is due to foal soon and we wanted to make sure that she's okay."

"Did you meet or see anyone on the way here?" Sam asked.

"We saw two soldiers, in uniforms. They looked scary. They were close to the path we usually take, so we chose a way around them. They didn't see us. Are they there to protect you? They said in the news that the bad guys are all in jail."

"They are, Adrian. The soldiers and a few officers of your local police are out there to keep the press from bothering Mrs. Cabot. We don't want them to invade her privacy just because they are nosy. Can you help me up? I don't want to sit on the floor while getting yelled at."

"Yelled at?" He asked with an expression that said, 'I didn't know grown-ups get yelled at too', but he still held out his hand to help Sam.

"Your friend is coming back and it sounds as if she brought some company."

Before the boy had a chance to say more the large barn door was pushed open. Antonia, Melinda, Alex and Caroline hurried in, followed by a girl with short blond hair, Olivia and Cassandra. Melinda took one look at her blood stained shoulder and began to read her the riot act. Sam kept her expression neutral while Melinda told her that she should know better and that she was irresponsible and should act like an adult. She was just about to talk herself into a rage when Olivia stopped her.

"Let it go, Melinda. Sam did what she had to do. Give her some credit. Why don't we go all back to the house and if you're not happy with her shoulder we'll find a way to sneak her into the hospital."

Melinda gave her a curt nod but it was evident that she was far from being mollified. So, Sam decided that some damage control was in order, "I'm sorry. I didn't set out to fall, but I needed to blow off some steam and going for a run seemed the easiest way to do that. I didn't want to worry any of you."

"Apology accepted, Colonel Carter. Let's act on Olivia's plan. Antonia, would you please prepare a snack for us all. Some of us missed lunch," Caroline said with a pointed look that not only hit Sam but also encompassed Alex, Olivia and Cassie.

"With pleasure, I have just the thing. Karen, Adrian, come, you can help me," Antonia said and shoed the children out of the stable.

Cassie had come closer and carefully hugged Sam, "I'm sorry, Mum. I should not have excluded you earlier. It's my fault that you're hurt."

"I'll be fine, Cassie, and it's not your fault. It was an accident, accidents happen. I know you only wanted to spare me from having to hear it a second time. I understand. I would have done the same. And falling and tearing my stitches was my fault. I stumbled into their ambush like a first year cadet. I'm fine, really."

Sam made a few steps towards the entrance and had to steady herself by grabbing one of the stall posts, "Uhhh, dizzy." Cassie let go of one of her crutches and steadied her and a moment later Olivia was at her side to hold her as well.

"We have you, Sam. We'll help you to get back to the house."

A moment later someone burst through the wall panels in the back, slipped on the mud puddle and landed hard on her back.

"Julia Marie Ross, this is no way to enter a stable. Someone invented doors for a reason," Caroline chided the girl.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cabot. We always enter from the back, it's easier and faster. Wow! You are the people from the news. What's going on? Why are you all here? And where are Junior and Karen? Are they alright?"

"They're fine, Julia. You'll find them in the kitchen with Antonia. We'll join you all shortly," Caroline said with a smile and the girl took it as the dismissal it was and ran off.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	26. Chapter 26: Flame

CH 26: Flame

Melinda grudgingly agreed with Sam's self assessment that her fall had not done additional damage to her shoulder though she wanted her to go and have an MRI done sometime soon just to make sure. The 'tricorder' as Olivia jokingly called the medical scanner Jennifer Keller had given to Sam before she had left Atlantis showed that she was still anemic and so the doctor insisted that she'd take a nap after their late lunch/snack with the children. The three pre-teens were visibly nervous and a bit overwhelmed but Olivia worked her charm and they relaxed enough to tell Sam how they had avoided the guards. They also apologized again for having caused the accident and needed some reassurance that Sam would be alright.

To show them that she was really alright and that there were no hard feelings Sam volunteered to accompany them to the stables and get introduced to the horses. Cassie went with them. Melinda, being a doctor and an overprotective friend, wanted her to have that nap but Olivia's hand on her arm stopped her from saying anything.

As soon as the group had left Olivia said, "Thank you, Melinda, for letting her go. She needs it."

"It's against my better medical judgment, Liv. Sam needs rest, physical rest. What she does not need is spending time with overexcited children and getting roped into a stunt that will only lead to another accident," Melinda said testily.

"Her body may need the rest, Mel, but her mind needs the distraction. In her head she's still replaying Cassandra's words from her session with George yesterday. That's why she went for a run in the first place. Forcing her to rest will only let her imagination run wild."

"What are you talking about? Cassandra's amended statement was almost clinical," Alex asked.

"Yes, it was, as if someone else had been violated and beaten, but that's not how she told it to George. He gave me his report and the transcript of the session before returning to the City. I read it after her statement. I couldn't help the vivid images her words created, running through my head like a horror movie I can't stop watching. I threw up, twice, and then I spent an hour in the basement gym hitting the sand bag. And I'm used to hear such things. Being with the kids will do Sam good, and being with Cassandra."

"Yes, you might have a point but I still don't like it. Sam can't afford to get injured again. So, the next time she feels the need to run put her on a treadmill or something."

"Will do, Doc, and don't worry, Sam will be fine. She just needs some time to put everything in perspective. And don't ask me how I know that, I just do. Why don't you and Alex get some work done, that's why you came, right? I mean aside from making sure that your favorite patients don't do anything too stupid."

"You're right, let's get this over with. The autopsy reports are not easy reading and I have to admit I really need some professional help, especially in correlation with the videotapes of the victims," Alex said.

"How do you know, Olivia?" Caroline asked a pensive detective as soon as Alex and Melinda had retired to the library. "And why does no one seem to be worried about Cassandra Fraiser? She was the victim, should she not be more affected by her restored memories?"

"Every victim has their own way of dealing with the violation, especially considering that our legal procedures practically force them to repeat it, to relive it more than once, and that some judges allow the defense lawyers to disparage them in public. I'm not a psychologist but I think it's like this: rationally Cassandra has a very good grip on what happened. Rationally she also knows that there was not much she could have done differently, nothing she could have done to protect herself, but emotionally she still has a long way to go. Being with Sam right now is the best medicine for her, and for Sam."

Olivia fell silent, debating with herself on if and how to answer Caroline's first question. How did she know? And she knew, she knew deep down, she knew for certain. Caroline's hand at the small of her back let her re-centre herself but the Cabot matriarch surprised her by not repeating the question.

"Go and join them, Olivia, try to have some fun. I'll call General Hammond to have him close the gap in his protective net the children slipped through and then I'll call the parents that they can be picked up in an hour or two."

Olivia didn't need more prodding. She was glad to escape what could have turned into a mild form of the Spanish Inquisition, and was ill prepared for all the questions with which the three children peppered her, Sam and Cassie. Luckily Sam had made it clear on the way over to the stables that neither she nor Cassandra would answer any question having to do with what they had heard in the news. That caveat still left them a lot of venues of inquiry. Olivia, however, would not be the detective she was if she had not managed to also find out a lot about the three children.

-x-x-x-

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Carmichael and Miss Novak will now answer your questions. Thank you for your patience."

District Attorney Arthur Branch didn't wait for the torrent of questions to erupt around him but turned sharply and got back to his office. He had spent the last ten plus minutes to outline the details of the upcoming trials against Addison David Williamson and Carl Kelles and the men of his gang.

The Grand Jury had indicted all of them only a couple of hours ago after surprisingly short deliberations. Williamson's confession and Gwendolyn Green's testimony had been more than enough to convince them. The main charges against Williamson were nine counts of murder in the first degree, ten counts of kidnapping, assault and rape, not to mention all the other things he had admitted to having done in front of Sam and a camera. Lena Petrovsky would be presiding over his trial.

Kelles and his men had been charged with nine counts of accessory to murder, ten counts of kidnapping and rape as well as a few class B felonies. Their trial would be held in the court of Judge Lois Preston. Jury selection would start the next day and the trials themselves were scheduled to begin on Monday and Wednesday of the following week respectively.

Arthur also addressed the media speculations about a possible military involvement by emphasizing the familial connection between Williamson's last victim, Cassandra Fraiser, and Colonel Samantha Carter. He also explained Sam's participation in Alex' rescue in a way that though glossing over the details including the part played by two former Air Force officers left very little purchase for journalistic curiosity, at least for the time being.

Sam had followed the press conference on the big flat screen TV in the den together with the current occupants of the Cabot Estate but tuned it out when the questions began. Her mind was already on what to expect during the trial sessions. Cassandra seemed to do the same, at least judging from her drawn and pained expression. Sam instinctively unclipped her sling and put her arms around her daughter. The tension pervading Cassie's body was raising her protective instincts.

"Alex," she asked, "is there any way to keep Cassie from testifying?"

Before Alex had even the chance to look around at the unexpected question Cassie said, "No, Mum, I have to do this. I have to testify; and not only because I want to see them all behind bars for the rest of their lives. I have to do it for myself. I have to face them. I will not go as far as to say that I really know what I'm getting myself into, but I have a good idea and I know that you will be there for me every step of the way. Remember, I'm very brave; we both are."

Cassandra's words were in stark contrast with her body language but Sam could read the determination in her eyes, an expression she knew all too well from the deep brown eyes of Janet Fraiser. Cassie really was Janet's daughter, all the way. Janet also would have wanted to testify, regardless of the personal pain that might cause.

"Yes, you're very brave, Cassie. Janet would be so proud of you and so am I," Sam said and pulled Cassandra in a closer embrace.

The other women kept their eyes on the screen to give them at least a modicum of privacy and allow them to get their emotions back, if not under control but at least under wraps. Melinda though who at Sam's insistence had stayed after she had finished her conference with Alex glanced back worriedly more than once.

After a few minutes Cassandra took a deep breath and asked, "So, this trial thing, how does it work? I've never even seen the inside of a court room except on TV."

Alex turned her back to the screen and looked at the young woman. She was still huddled in Sam's arms but her face had lost much of the strain. Alex didn't know how much of it was false bravado but deep down it reassured her that ultimately Cassandra would be fine, given enough time to heal. So, she switched from worried friend into witness preparation mode.

"The trial against Addison Williamson will start with the reading of the charges. There is a possibility that his defense lawyer will waive the reading in order not to prejudice the jury against the defendant. The judge then will ask Williamson how he pleads. Best case scenario would be that he pleads guilty. The jury would be thanked and excused and a date for a sentencing hearing would be set up," Alex said.

"But you don't think that will happen, right, Alex?"

"No, I do not, Sam. I read Williamson's confession and he wants his hour in the spotlight. He wants to get his message across that women aught to be pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen, metaphorically speaking."

"Nothing metaphorical about it," Cassie murmured. "When he was not hurting me he was talking about how women are by nature inferior to men and that it was his god-given duty to remind them of their rightful place, subservient to the men in their lives at any and all time. He did not like it when I tried to argue with him."

The last sentence was barely above a whisper and Sam remembered Williamson's monotone voice telling her every last detail of what he had done to her daughter. She stiffened slightly at the vivid images.

Cassie intuitively squeezed her uninjured arm, "I'll be fine, Mum."

Sam didn't answer verbally but she took a deep breath and asked, "So, with Williamson pleading not-guilty, what will happen?"

"Judge Petrovsky will ask Abbie to call her first witness, and since Olivia was the primary in this case she's first on the list. That will take at least all of Monday; with Trevor's cross examination it could also take up Tuesday morning. Usually we first would call the expert witnesses, in this case Melinda for the coroner's office and Kettler for the crime lab, to establish the facts. That can get dry very quickly. So, Abbie and I decided that before bringing in the experts we want to put a personal face on the case."

"Cassie?"

"No, not Cassandra. Calling a living victim this early in a case could be grounds for appeal. In the past it has been argued that the jurors were getting prejudiced against the defendant." Alex winced internally at her businesslike tone, but Cassie seemed to take it in strike. "You will be next, Sam. Abbie and I will prepare you over the weekend but the aim is to mix factual information with the perspective of a worried parent. We will try to keep it short but Trevor will do his best to shoot holes in Olivia's testimony. He also will ask for an explanation how you could pick up on a connection between the victims the BAU had not only not yet put into CODIS but not even seen.

"Abbie and Arthur will stop by tomorrow to talk strategy about that. Arthur also wants to go over the steps you took to find out about Robert's embezzlement and the bugs in my computer and apartment. He will also take my testimony about Robert then."

"Everything concerning White is above board. Olivia and I already synchronized our reports before you were abducted. The Williamson case is a different ballgame altogether," Sam said, audibly trying to sound objective. "I have the knowledge to access the databases I did. As an Air Force Officer with a high security clearance I also have the authority to access those databases. Then, however, I was not acting as a military officer. So, that could be a problem."

"I see," Alex answered. "I will let Arthur know about that possible complication but since he did not mention it to me I'm pretty sure that District Attorney Branch has already come up with a solution. He's very resourceful if he wants to be. Tomorrow will tell us more."

"I think we can live with that," Cassie said and Sam nodded, albeit reluctantly.

In the background the TV was still droning on but after a few minutes of mostly uncomfortable silence Caroline Cabot decided that a change in subject would be beneficial. So, with a mixture of charisma and maternal authority, she convinced the rest of her party to focus their attention on some board games.

They started with 'Clue' but Sam couldn't relax that way. She didn't pay attention to the game and after a few rounds she excused herself and went up to her room where she booted her laptop, called up a few photos and video sequences about the Stargate. She had asked Melinda to stay to tell her, Olivia and Alex about her work. They deserved to know, now – with the truth about General Jacob Carter revealed – more than ever. From the way Melinda had handled her medication those last few days Sam was relatively certain that Melinda at some point had had some access to her medical file; so, she already suspected that it would have to be something big.

-x-x-x-

She had just finished her preparations when her cell phone rang, thinking that it was either Jack or Daniel she did not look at the caller-ID.

"Carter."

"Hello Sam, this is Mark. I saw you on the news and just wanted to make sure that you're alright."

"How did you get that number, Mark?" Sam asked.

"It wasn't easy. Really, sis, you're harder to get in contact with than with the Pope. I had to literally go from Pontius to Pilate."

"You never gave the impression that you needed to get in contact with me, Mark. So, what's up?"

"Can't a brother call his only sister to make sure that she and her daughter are alright? And no, don't say it. I know that I treated you badly, you and Janet and Cassandra. I apologize for that, I was a fool. Cassandra, is she alright?"

"She will be, in time. But what brought about this change in attitude? The last time we spoke you made it clear that you didn't want my dyke vibes to infect your children," even years later her voice betrayed how hurt she had been by those words.

"I'm sorry, Sam, I was a fool and too caught up in my own world to see reality as it is. I did a lot of reading since then and soul searching."

Sam didn't know what to say to that.

"I know that it's probably too little, too late, but when I saw on TV that you almost were killed saving someone else I… Sam, could we just talk, please. When those trials are over, I mean. Give me a chance to apologize in person."

"I ask again, Mark, what triggered your change of opinion?"

"A couple of things, but mainly the fact that I found Tommy kissing another boy in the garden. I overreacted and threatened to throw him out of the house at which point my wife and daughter told me more than clearly that I should get over myself or go and look for a new family."

Sam was stunned, to say the least. If she would believe in such things she would call it poetic justice. Mark told her how he had started to do some research and had started to doubt a few of his prejudices and how he had understood that he would never stop loving his son, regardless of whom he would end up loving. He also told her that he wanted to make amends to her and to Cassie.

When he started to repeat himself Sam had recovered enough of her composure to say, "Listen, Mark, I need to stay here in New York for the trials but I'll contact you as soon as I can get away. It may take some time. I don't know where the Air Force will send me next, but you have my word."

"Thank you, Sam. That means a lot to me. Your arm, will you be able to return to active duty?"

"A couple of weeks physical therapy and I will be as good as new, Mark. No need to worry. In a way I'm glad that you called. Father told me that he left a suitcase with you when he visited with you before his death. He said that there were letter and other things we one day would want to know. Do you still have it?" Sam asked.

She of course didn't tell her brother that it had not been Jacob Carter who had told her about the suitcase but Selmak right before she had slipped into a coma. And Sam's instincts told her that she could find some, if not all the answers there. Selmak would not have put such an emphasis on it otherwise.

"Yes, I guess so, somewhere in the attic. After his death I was tempted to have a look inside but I never got around to it. Why?"

"Could you do that now, please? Look for a diary or letters or anything else concerning the time between his first and second tour in Vietnam, please."

"Sure, Sam. If you tell me what this is all about and I know what I'm looking for it would make it easier," Mark said.

"You will not like it, Mark."

"As long as I don't find any pictures or stuff with Dad doing the nasty with another man I guess I can take it, Sam. That would be too much of a shock."

"It's worse than that, Mark. When Father and Uncle George where in New York after their first tour in 'Nam Father raped at least three women."

Sam expected a loud outburst but there was complete silence at the other end of the line, so she continued, "One of his victims got pregnant and decided to keep the child. We have a half-sister."

Still silence.

"Mark, are you still there? Are you alright?"

A groan was the only answer, "Mark Jacob Carter, get a grip."

"Are you sure, Sam?"

"Yes, Mark. I saw the DNA panels. There is no doubt."

"But how is that possible. I mean Dad could be a complete jerk and a real pain in the neck, but a rapist?"

"DNA does not lie, Mark. I don't know why he did it. I just know that he was a rapist and I hope to find answers in the stuff he left you. I know that must be hard for you. You got along so well in the last years of his life."

There was another period of silence that seemed interminably long to Sam but this time she allowed Mark to recover in his own time.

"Tell me about this half-sister, Sam. How did you find her?"

So, Sam gave him the highlights about her time in New York and how she had found out about their paternal affiliation.

"Wow, that's quite a tale. Still, I'll need some time to wrap my mind around all of this, but I promise to go through the contents of the suitcase as soon as I'm over the hangover I'll get from getting as drunk as I can right now," Mark said.

"Don't overdo it, Mark. Alcohol has never answered any questions. Give my best to your family, and you can call me any time under this number. If I don't pick up leave a message and I will call back as soon as I can."

"Will do, sis. Take care of yourself and Cassandra."

Sam put the cell phone down and shock her head at the unexpected development. She was not yet completely convinced about the sincerity of Mark's attitude adjustment. He had said some very hurtful things over the years concerning her relationship with Janet and her feelings for Cassandra. His words had hurt even more in context with her father's verbally abusive disapproval but in the end Janet's love had been more important than the bigotry of her father and brother.

She took a deep breath and banned thoughts of her brother to the background of her mind. Only time would tell if they really had a chance to develop a less adversarial relationship. For now she had more pressing matters to attend to, namely telling Alex, Olivia and Melinda about the Stargate Program and Atlantis.

-x-x-x-

When Sam woke up the next morning she was lying in her bed, with her sling on, and alone. She looked around. The sun was up. The clock on the nightstand told her that it was just past 0830. There was a short note next to the clock telling her that Flame had gone into labor and that she would find the others at the stables. So, she took a shower and went down to the kitchen to see if there was any coffee available.

She found a thermos with coffee and a small basket with still warm muffins on the counter and decided to savor her breakfast in silent solitude. Her throat was still a bit sore from talking so much the night before. It had taken her two hours to explain the basics of gate travel and the history of the Stargate Program, and Sam was pretty sure that even Melinda would have thought that she was nuts had she not included some videos that showed her working or posing with some of the more physiologically different races like the Rhetu or Warrick, the Serrakin pilot.

The three women had had a lot of questions, and not all of them had been what she had expected. Melinda's questions had made it clear that Carolyn must have given her a copy of her medical report and that she seemed a bit in awe of what Sam had been facing out there every day for years. Alex had tried to wrap her mind around the technical aspects of the whole thing and finally declared her forfeit. Since Alex didn't strike her as someone to give up easily Sam was sure that she would have more questions sometime in the future. Olivia had been very interested in the team dynamics, not only of SG-1, of the whole base, but had soon become very quiet.

It had been close to midnight, Cassandra had already retired to bed, when Sam had finally gotten to the point of telling them about Atlantis and the origin of her healing abilities. To say that they had been stunned would have been a massive understatement. To snap them out of it Sam had told a few funny stories about her time in the Ancient city, for example how Rodney had managed to turn a quarter of a square mile of Atlantis into a giant indoor swimming pool that quickly had become very popular, or the first time she had actually won a sparring match against Ronon Dex, or the first time she had spent a night on the mainland with Teyla to participate in an Athosian initiation ceremony.

She would miss Atlantis, Sam thought melancholically and downed the rest of her coffee. She tried to tell herself for the umpteenth time that there was no point in speculating and that there also was no reason to expect the worst. That, however, was easier said than done; so, she decided to distract herself from her morose thoughts and join the others in the barn.

-x-x-x-

The first thing Sam heard when she entered the stables was Melinda saying, "I'm a pathologist not a veterinarian, Alex."

"Just hold the phone and speak with Doctor Ballard. He will talk us through this. Horses and women have done it for thousand of years. It can't be that hard."

Alex and Melinda were in the stall with Flame, together with Caroline who was gently stroking the mare's head. Olivia was aiming a digital camera at the proceedings and Cassie and Antonia stood to the side and just looked on.

Sam walked over to Cassie and put her free arm around her. Cassie instinctively leaned against her and Sam relished the contact. It was exactly what she needed to make her stop worrying about her future. Standing there her mind drifted off to the one time she had seen Janet deliver a baby, a Human baby.

It had been on one of those planets where the societal structure could only be described as extremely misogynistic. Sam's presence had only been accepted because she had been dressed like a man from the beginning and (more importantly) because her skills were crucial for them. Then, the pregnant wife of their king had started to experience complications. The local healers had washed their hands of her, telling the king that it now was in the hand of the spirits and that he should pray for the life of his son.

Daniel had heard about it and had given the woman a painkiller which had convinced the king that the visitors, despite their strange customs, might have a way to keep his presumptive heir alive. General Hammond then had reluctantly agreed to send Janet to join SG-1. And Janet had been magnificent. She had been about a head shorter than the smallest of their hosts but that had not kept Janet from being intimidating as all get-out. She had barked orders and the locals had obeyed.

In Sam's eyes, those insufferable machos scrambling to do Janet's every whim had made the whole mission worth the bother. Colonel O'Neill had sent her to watch over Janet as soon as the repairs to their energy system had been finished. Janet, by then, had managed to stabilize the prospective mother and had been just about to throw out the other healers who had been next to ineffective. Sam didn't even need to fire her P-90 to clear the room. The fiery expression in Janet's eyes had been more than enough.

The baby had been a breach and since the only other woman left in the room had not seemed to be responsive Janet had asked Sam for help. Even in retrospect Sam was awed at Janet's sovereign handling of a hysterical woman in labor, how she had talked her down, how she had calmly instructed Sam what to do. It had been magnificent, more than magnificent.

Even in retrospect Sam felt a sliver of arousal when she thought back on how superior and dominating and incredibly perfect and beautiful Janet had been that day. And Janet cradling that newborn child against her chest still was the most perfect picture Sam would ever be able to imagine. It sent a piercing pain through her heart, now she would never get the chance to see their own child cradled in her beloved's arms.

Sam shock her head as if to get a strand of hair out of her face to bring herself out of those pointless thoughts. At the moment, there were other issues at hand, namely the visit of District Attorney Branch; and just as if her thoughts had conjured him a security guard led a man wearing a three-piece-suit into the stables, closely followed by Abbie Carmichael.

Alex saw her and said, "Hey, Cowboy, care to give me a hand?"

"Any time, Princess," Abbie answered and stepped forward but was stopped by Caroline's voice commanding her to go and change into something more appropriate for the occasion than one of her court suits.

Abbie ran off and Arthur introduced himself to Sam and Cassandra after he had greeted Caroline and the others. Sam offered to go over to the house with him to get started on the things that needed to be cleared up but to her surprise he refused.

"It's not every day that I get the chance to see a new life born, Colonel Carter. Besides, I always wanted to see what kind of team Abigail and Alexandra make outside of the courtroom."

Two hours later Flame had foaled a beautiful chestnut colored filly. The mare had licked it clean and it was standing on its own, on slightly wobbly feet. Arthur had spent the time alternately on the phone or observing the mostly non-verbal interactions of the others in the stables, the evident closeness between Colonel Carter and her adopted daughter, the way Cassandra Fraiser's eyes showed her joy and delight either at something Colonel Carter said or at something else she observed in the room. He also made note of the way Detective Benson kept her gaze on Alexandra, following her every move with an expression of love and devotion and pride on her face, and of Alexandra, his tough, uncompromising bureau chief, mirroring that expression whenever her gaze fell on Olivia Benson. It was the ultimate proof he needed to know that whatever the future might bring those two would get through it together. They gave each other strength, a strength they would need to let his plans of Alexandra one day succeeding him in the DA's chair still come true.

-x-x-x-

While Abbie and Alex got cleaned up and changed into more professional attire Arthur started to go through the steps Sam and Olivia had taken to find the origin of the bugs in Alex' cell phone and laptop. It didn't take long since they already had prepared that part. How they had been able to find Richard White at the beach house before the police did had been harder to explain. With the help of Judge Harriman Arthur and the Police Commissioners of New York and East Hampton had come to a legally sound compromise; the participation of Nick Farthington and Marty Bannion, however, could turn into a jurisdictional nightmare. Instead of making things easier their military background opened the door for speculations about a possible military cover-up.

"With all due respect, Arthur, I don't see a problem. Common law states that any person who witnesses a crime being committed has the right to detain the suspects or culprits. It was a simple citizen's arrest, and the fact that two of those concerned citizens are police officers in another jurisdiction should not play a role," Alex said from the door to the library.

"That works for the rescue, but not for how you found White's hide-out, Alexandra. If I understood it right, Colonel Carter, you hacked into the IRS, that's not something a simple citizen can do," Arthur said.

"Yes, Arthur, it is. I looked it up after Olivia told me how they had done it. It's just a question of filling out the right forms. Sam just did it faster," Alex said.

"I gave that some thought since yesterday and now I do not think that there will be much of a problem, Mister Branch. I'm not a 'simple citizen'. I'm an Air Force Officer with an extremely high security clearance. Technically in the pursuit of my duties I have the right to access every database I need, be it regional or federal or national or international. The defense may argue that I did not act on behalf of the Air Force or the United States, but the document that makes me a temporary officer of the law also states that I have the duty to 'employ all resources available' in service of the New York Justice System. That should give you all the leeway you'll need."

Arthur's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly recovered from the surprise of hearing such a deviously circular legal argument from someone he had been told was a successful combat soldier and of all things a theoretical physicist.

"Depending on the defense strategy of White's lawyers I might need to ask you about that on the stand, but yes, combined with the citizen's arrest it can work," he said.

"Besides, who did he get to defend him?" Olivia asked.

"All of our local main players have refused to defend him. From what I heard most cited an overabundance of other cases, but rumor has it that LaRue told him that she would not defend someone too stupid to see that Alex Cabot always would be way out of his league," Arthur answered with a provocative smile in Alex' direction who predictably blushed. "He called in someone from Boston, a former senior associative of Crane, Poole & Schmidt, Claire Simms. I haven't met her yet but she already met twice with White at Rikers."

Before Arthur had a chance to change the topic to the Williamson trial Caroline called all of them to lunch. They had just sat down to eat when the perimeter guard announced another visitor, General Hammond. Sam snapped to attention when she saw him in full dress uniform, well, as best as she could with her arm in a sling.

"At ease, Colonel, after all you're still on medical leave. I just finished a video conference with the White House. President Hayes wants to talk to you at 1600, full dress uniform. I suppose you won't have a problem to establish a secure video link later," he said.

"No, Sir, do you know what this is all about?" Sam asked.

"Nothing definitive. President Hayes asked me a few questions about our work history and the administrative aspects of bases like Cheyenne Mountain and your current base. His questions ranged from general to very specific but I have no idea what he is up to. I heard Vala whispering in the background and Hank trying to get her to shut up at one point but that's all I know at the moment. I guess we'll find out more when you talk with the President later."

Sam was bursting with curiosity. There were so many questions she wanted to ask but knew that the general would not know how to answer. So, she said reluctantly, "I understand, Sir. Would you like to take a seat? We were just about to start lunch."

Compared to most other meals lunch was rather short this time since Arthur was eager to get back to work. With a combined effort they managed to hash out the necessary details in only three hours which left Sam just enough time to get changed before her video conference with President Hayes. In the meantime Cassie gave General Hammond a tour and they ended up spending over an hour with the new-born filly and her mother. She then helped Sam to set up the video link and put her hair in a professional bun.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	27. Chapter 27: Perfection Incarnate

CH 27: Perfection Incarnate

Sam sat in front of a blank screen, speechless and stunned. Her hair was still up in a bun, the heavy sling obscured half of her ribbons, her eyes were wide. She tried to wrap her mind around what she had just learned. She tried to make sense of it.

She had expected everything, prison time, a dishonorable discharge, forced retirement, suspension, a reprimand. She had not expected that, not in a million years. If she had been the type she would have pinched herself to make sure that she was not stuck in a dream.

Mechanically Sam shut down the computer and stood up. Everything around her looked normal, just like it had looked before the video conference. The afternoon sun was coming in through the window. Alex was leading Flame on a lounge lead next to the barn while the kids from the day before, Julia, Karen and Adrian seemed to be cooing over the filly. The newborn always kept her mother in her line of sight but the filly seemed to be much surer on her feet than she had some hours earlier.

Sam began to pace the length of the room. She still didn't believe it. In none of her scenarios she had even remotely considered something like that. It was beyond comprehension…

When Sam neared the door to the first story office Caroline had chosen she heard the distinct sound of crutches pacing slowly in front of it. Cassandra was waiting; and Sam knew that she should go out there, that she should join her daughter and her friends and her sister, that she should let them know what she had just learned. But she still could not really wrap her mind around it.

A second set of feet had joined Cassandra's. Sam knew that she was running out of time. When she returned to the window Alex, the mare, the filly and the children were gone and Sam suddenly became aware that she had no idea how much time had passed since the end of her video conversation.

Sam closed her eyes and willed her heartbeat to slow down. She opened the door to an adjoining half-bath and studied her face in the mirror. The last time she had worn her dress uniform with full ribbons had been for her promotion to full Colonel. Her hair was a bit longer now. Her skin tone was lighter than it had been for a long time but that was probably due to the still lingering anemia, and there now were two more ribbons adorning her chest.

Sam shock her head and blinked. She turned back to the door and left the room. Cassie was at the far end of the corridor and had obviously just turned around. Her face lit up when she saw Sam. She tried to hurry over but Sam was faster.

"Hey, kiddo, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, a bit nervous, but shouldn't that be my question, Mum?"

"I'm fine, Cassie, surprised but fine." Sam felt Olivia hovering behind her and added, "Let's join the others. I have a favor to ask of Mrs. Cabot."

-x-x-x-

Abbie and Arthur had returned to the City, and the rest of the household including Melinda and George Hammond, was waiting in the living room, trying to give the impression that they were not waiting for something or anything. When Sam, Cassie and Olivia came in all of them stood up, some faster than others.

"Mrs. Cabot, I know that I'm asking a lot, but would it be possible for you to offer hospitality to three or four other people? A few friends are coming over from Washington sometime tomorrow. I can direct them to a hotel in the City or in East Hampton…"

"Say no more, Samantha. You're family. So, your friends will always be welcome, and this is a big house. As long as you don't want to house the whole DA's office there should be no problem," Caroline said. "So, Colonel Carter, are you at liberty to tell us about your recent phone call?"

"Yes ma'am, at least about part of it. President Hayes decided that everything I did during the search for my daughter was in accord with my duties as an Air Force Officer, including my, as he put it, 'creative use of Air Force assets' and the access to all the databases I used to find first Cassie and then Alex. So, the very issue we were talking about earlier by now is obsolete. The necessary documentation will be sent to the DA's office at the latest tomorrow morning, and that should take care of even the most ephemeral of legal issues."

"But there's more, right?" Melinda asked.

"Yes, there is more to it. I can not go into any details but basically President Hayes told me that I'll keep my command…"

Sam didn't get further than that because Cassie pulled her in a bear hug, "That's so great, Mum. Congratulations."

"Thank you, kiddo."

"So, you're not in trouble any more?" Olivia asked.

"No, no trouble, no restrictions, nothing. When my leave is over I can just go back to work, with the only change that I get an assistant for the administrative and bureaucratic work who will have no command authority of his own. That will free me for the things I'm much better at."

What she did not tell them was that President Hayes had convinced the other Heads of State involved in the project to put the IOC under the authority of the Head of Homeworld Security and turn them from a supervisory institution to a purely administrative one. China, the President had told her, had of course objected but faced with the alternative to either acquiesce or lose all the benefits from medical research to nano technology they had so far received from the program they had reluctantly given in.

"Just like that?" Alex asked and brought Sam back to the present.

"Yes, just like that. It seems that President Hayes had been waiting for an opportunity to deal with the comity charged with overseeing Cheyenne Mountain, my base, and other facilities. There have been irregularities and they more than once overstepped their boundaries. One of the top officers of those facilities suddenly stepping out of line seemed to be the perfect opportunity for them to try to gain more control. It backfired, completely. The oversight comity now has less influence than even in the beginning," Sam said.

Olivia walked over to Sam and Cassie and pulled them both in a hug, "So, how should we celebrate the good news?"

"It may not sound like much, but how about we finish the games' night we started last night?" Cassie proposed. "I saw Monopoly in your collection and I haven't played that in years. Can I help you change back into something more comfortable, Sam?"

"That's a good idea, Cassandra. Let's all get some rest before dinner. It should be ready in about an hour. Doctor Warner, General Hammond, let me show you your rooms for the night," Caroline said.

Melinda and Hammond replied that they should return to the city but Caroline didn't take no for an answer. So, they both had the opportunity to witness the probably most competitive game of Monopoly since its invention. In the end even Cassie, usually pretty competitive herself, leaned back to observe the no-holds barred showdown between Sam, Alex and Olivia. And when Alex finally gained the upper hand Olivia and Sam both pouted like children who had lost their favorite toys.

-x-x-x-

That night Sam woke up bathed in sweat. She was still in her bed, the sling was still attached and Cassie seemed to be peacefully sleeping in the next bed. Sam took a deep breath. She was relieved that this time she had only dreamed her usual dream about making love to Janet and her beloved dying in her arms.

Her next thought was: 'How could I be relieved at dreaming about one of the worst things in my life?' Sam took a deep breath. She had gone through enough psych-evaluations over the years to know the answer to her own question, at least rationally. She had become accustomed to dream about Janet in the best and the worst way. The dreams about Cassie's ordeal, however, had been completely different, new, unexpected, and they hurt more than anything that had ever happened to her, Sam thought.

Sam got up and exchanged her shorts for a pair of sweats. She didn't know what to do with herself, in the middle of the night and without a lab or a gym nearby. So, she wandered the corridors of the first story, to no avail. Sam went down to the ground floor. It was dark and seemed to be empty but Sam's senses disagreed. She went to the kitchen, and found a thermos and a few mugs waiting on the counter. Sam filled one of the mugs. She identified some sort of herbal tea by its smell. She drank it slowly but the feeling of not being alone pervaded. And it didn't do anything to help her to calm down.

Sam left the house by the swimming pool entry and wandered through the back garden. She tried to calm down but still felt waves of energy waiting to be vented. Sam saw light in the meditation room when she got closer to the west side of the building. It illuminated the stone garden in a way that not only got Sam's attention, it mesmerized her.

She didn't know how long she had stood there in the semi dark of a moderately warm spring night. But she heard the opening of a sliding door, a shadow passed through the light cone coming from inside the house and she heard soft footsteps nearing her. Sam turned her head and saw Caroline carrying a thin blanket she draped around Sam's shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it, Samantha? About what drove you out of bed in the middle of the night? After the emotional roller coaster ride you were on today you should be fast asleep. You're too young to miss out on sleep."

"I'm fine, Caroline. I do not need much sleep."

"What do you usually do at night?"

"Work in one of the labs at the base, go to the gym. The first night I was here, in New York, I mean, Olivia took me for a run. I try to stay active or keep my mind busy," Sam answered, surprised at herself that she so readily talked about something that was very personal to her.

"Would you tell me about Cassandra's mother, please? She must have been a remarkable woman."

"Yes, she was. I'll always miss her. When I first met her my life was my work. There was nothing else, work and the occasional adrenaline kick riding my bike. Janet taught me how to live. She taught me how to enjoy life. Janet taught me how to love. She was the strongest person I ever met, beautiful and brilliant, warm, unassuming, confident…"

Sam fell silent and Caroline draped her arm around Sam's waist, "She left a hole in your life and in your soul."

Sam didn't answer; there was no need for further words. The arm around her middle gave her a comfort she had not felt in a long time. Not since Janet's death and before Janet not since her mother's death. It felt good to be held that way. It felt right and Sam didn't want to belittle the gesture by questioning it.

When a strong gust of wind blew Sam's long hair in her face Caroline proposed to go inside and have some tea. They entered the house through the sliding door to the meditation room. Sam followed Caroline to the kitchen. She filled two mugs with tea and pulled a ceramic jar from a shelf containing chocolate chip cookies.

"Eat, Samantha. It's comfort food and has just the nutrients you need to heal faster. They're one of Antonia's specialties, and I fear, quite addictive."

Sam wasn't hungry. She never was after one of those dreams but she took a cookie out of curtsey. She took a small bite and suddenly there was a taste explosion on her tongue, dark chocolate with a hint of chili. It was incredible, divine. Sam took another bite and reflexively closed her eyes. She chewed slowly and unbeknownst to her a bright smile appeared on her face, a smile the brilliance of which had become a rarity ever since Janet's death.

Olivia who had just entered the kitchen froze in mid-step at the sight of that smile. It changed Sam's face completely and gave her a glimpse of what her sister must have looked like when Janet Fraiser was still alive. Sam was a beautiful woman even dirty and exhausted, even in a coma, but that smile, it made her understand why Cassie had feared that Sam would want to join her beloved in death.

She shock herself out of her stupor and said, "Hey what's going on here? It looks like Grand Central Station during rush hour."

"Caroline was nice enough to invite me to a late night snack and some tea. You have to try one of those cookies; they're spectacular," Sam said still smiling.

"Chocolate chip cookies, hmm, I haven't had them in far too long, but that does not explain why you're both up at that hour. So, what's going on?"

"Nothing, dear, I'm just an old woman who does not need much sleep anymore. By the way, what are you doing up? You should be snuggled in bed with Alexandra."

"Alex woke up with cramps. I came down to fill the hot water bottle and get some raspberry tea."

"You know where the tea is, Olivia. I'll heat some water. Samantha could you pull a tray out of the cupboard over there, please? We'll also send up some cookies. It sounds as if my daughter is in need of some comfort food."

A few minutes after Olivia had returned to Alex Caroline asked, "If you went back to bed now would you be able to sleep, Samantha?"

"Usually I don't, why do you ask?"

"Cassandra mentioned that you have an interest in old cars and motorbikes. If you follow me, I might have something to help you pass the time 'til breakfast. Come."

Caroline led Sam through the house and to the garage building. When they had first arrived Sam had estimated that it could hold about six or seven cars. Caroline activated the light switch. The first vehicle they saw was the black stretch limousine that had brought them here. There also was a forest green BMW convertible, a Z 4 and another car hidden by a tarp at the other end close to a well organized work space with every tool imaginable, including a car hoist.

"Please help me to get rid of the tarp, Samantha."

Minutes later Sam blinked slowly. Right in front of her was every Oldsmobile enthusiast's wet dream. Sam's eyes widened; she didn't believe what her eyes were telling her. The body seemed to be in good condition, the flowing lines of silver metal invited to let her hands glide over it like over a lover. It were the most perfect lines she had ever seen in a car.

"Alexandra's father had intended it as a gift to her. He bought it when she was in High School and wanted to give it to her when she graduated law school. He never got around rebuilding the engine."

"May I have a look, Caroline?"

"That's why I brought you here. Have fun, Samantha, but don't overdo it. Go easy on your shoulder."

Sam thanked Caroline and immediately for got about her. She started to walk around the car, taking in details, small imperfections, tiny scratches, the designer sigil, a crown-embossed "f". She didn't touch it, not yet. Instead she took the flat board that had been stored against the back wall and rolled under the chassis. She had to unhook the sling to fit comfortably but didn't give it any thought, and if there was pain it didn't register in her mind. The underbody told her that at some point in time the car must have been in an accident, an accident that had made it necessary to rebuild the nose and part of the passenger side.

Sam got back on her feet and discarded the sling completely. She opened the driver's side door and took a seat in the compared to a modern car small black leather seat. She let her eyes roam over the minimalist dashboard, the middle console covered with the same black leather as the seats, the gear lever that ended in a silver ball. Sam put her hands on the steering wheel and imagined how it would have been to drive such a car in a race, in the early 1950s when its top speed of close to 150 mph was considered top of the line. Sam pulled the lever to open the hood and have a look at the motor.

The first thing she saw was the serial number of the chassis. Sam stared at it and blinked. "2056". She recalled what she had read about the accident that had cost a man his life and had totaled the car at its first race. There had been some problems with the isolation of the fuel line which combined with racing conditions and what under normal circumstances would have been a minor, inconsequential driver's error led to the crash. She also had seen pictures of the wreck and now had much more respect for the incredible amount of work that had had to be put in the car's restoration.

Sam took a deep breath and began to look at the engine. A purely hands-off approach was no longer enough, she needed more, and soon she had a wrench in her hands and was up to her elbows in motor parts. She made a mental of list of things to check out and others that would have to be done to get that metallic marvel back in working condition.

The next thing Sam became aware of was a hand on her good shoulder and Melinda's disapproving voice calling her name. She looked up, the smears of oil on the right side on her nose and her forehead, the sparkling in her eyes and her confused smile that told more clearly than anything else that Sam had been completely out of this world would have made it hard for anyone to scold her much.

So, the doctor in Melinda warred with the friend and the friend won by a small margin. She retrieved the sling from the work bench were Sam had put it, "Oh, Sam, you're not an easy patient to have. Breakfast is ready. You need a shower and a change of clothes, and you need to go back into your sling. No, Sam, I don't want to hear that you are fine. Just do as your doctor says."

Sam led herself be escorted back to the house and didn't even object when Melinda decided to wait outside of the bathroom until she had finished. The time under the shower allowed her to leave behind the world of mechanical perfection in which she had just reveled for everyday thinking and human interaction.

"Let me check your shoulder, Sam," Melinda said as soon as Sam left the bathroom.

Sam had expected that and not yet put on a shirt. She took a seat and allowed her friend to poke at the sutures and manipulate her arm. Only the day before she would not have been able to suppress at least a flinch but now it was much better. It was still painful but not to the point that she would not have been able to put it out of her mind.

"It still looks good, despite your determination not to follow your doctors' orders, but it feels a bit too warm. That could be a sign that infection has set in. We should go to the hospital to draw some blood and have an MRI. But for now, let's have some breakfast before Olivia and Alex eat all the pancakes."

"The warmth is a sign that it's healing, Mel, that's all. It's healing faster than I feared it would. I promise, I'm alright."

They were on the way down to the kitchen. Melinda sighed and said, "I would feel so much better if you just would keep the sling on, especially after falling on it yesterday."

"I'm sorry, Mel, it just… my eyes were not enough. I had to see with both of my hands."

"See with your hands? What are you talking about?"

"When it comes to mechanics my hands see more than my eyes, Mel, and that car deserves it more than most," Sam answered.

"It's just a car, Sam," they had reached the small dining room where that day breakfast was served and Melinda had already regained the seat she had claimed before she had gone in search of the elusive astrophysicist.

"Just a car? Are you out of your mind, Melinda? It's not just a car, it's perfection, it's a prime example of human imagination and ingenuity. Just a car…" Sam huffed, "You could just as well say that Leonardo Da Vinci was just a painter."

"What are you talking about, Sam?" George Hammond asked and took a sip from his coffee. "Take a seat, Sam."

"A 1954 Maserati A6 GCS coupé, a Pinin Farina design, one of only four cars of that line ever produced with a cubic capacity of nineteen hundred and eighty-five ccm, six cylinders, a top speed of one hundred and forty-nine miles per hour, one hundred and sixty-seven PS, from O to one hundred in eight point seven seconds. You have to see it, Uncle George. It's so beautiful, it defies description. It's the first one, the 2056 chassis. Caroline, do you know where your husband found it? As far as I know that car should be in Italy."

"I can't say at the top of my head but Alexander kept meticulous records. It should be easy to find out. I remember that he was very smug when he first told me about it, but I do not remember why. You said that the car should be in Italy?"

"Maserati built the A6 GCS as race cars between 1953 and 1956 with a total of fifty-two cars built. The chassis of four of them was not designed by Maserati's main designer but by Pinin Farina who at the time had close ties to Ferrari. There was a bit of maneuvering involved and Farina designed and then built four cars for them. The first one with the chassis ID twenty fifty-six competed in the 'Giro di Sicilia' in 1954. It crashed into a wall and the co-pilot died. The wreck was brought back to Modena, the Maserati head quarters. The owner, Count Paolo Gravina decided that it would be too costly to have it rebuild. Twenty fifty-six stayed in storage at Maserati until they decided to have it rebuild as part of the Maserati Heritage in 1991. They had the twenty fifty-nine chassis and body as a model but critics said that the rebuild did not even come close to the quality and beauty of the original. When a new CEO at Maserati decided to auction off the restored model, together with a few other bolides, it nearly caused a riot. So, as far as I know it should still be in Italy."

"Are you sure that the car my father bought is not one of the other three models?" Alex asked.

"The chassis number was stamped on. With the twenty sixty chassis it was welded on to indicate that it was rebuilt with another frame. I'll have to do some research to make sure but everything I've seen so far, from the Farina sigil to the marks on the underbody, indicates the car in your garage is the real deal. I'll have to put it up on the car hoist to finish my assessment but baring that, apart from new wiring it should be easy to finish what your husband started, Caroline," Sam said.

"How do you know so much about that car, Sam? You sound as if you just had spent hours researching it on the internet," Melinda said.

Sam blushed, and George Hammond answered, "Eidetic memory, Doctor Warner. Sam does not remember everything she sees or hears or reads but if it's something she's passionate about there's no chance that she will ever forget about it. Sam restored her first car when she had just turned fifteen."

"I would not call that restoring, Uncle George. I repaired my father's truck as best as I could after I had crashed it driving drunk." Sam turned her attention back to Caroline, "Uncle George helped me to get it done, and working on it triggered an interest in classic cars. He had to listen through hours and hours of endless rambling about technical specifications, designers, racing results. I must have driven him crazy."

"Not even close, Sam, I enjoyed our talks. It was a blast seeing you work on Jacob's car and the others you found later though I never did much more than to hand you a tool or two."

"You did much more, Uncle George. You spent time with me without being begged first. You postponed meetings just to keep an appointment with me. You always were there when I really needed you, and you only complained about my techno babble when time was of the essence. You always were the closest thing I got to a parent since my mother died."

As soon as she had said the last words Sam blushed deeply. She had not intended to blurt out something this personal in front of everyone, but deep down she also knew that face to face she would never have had the courage to tell him.

George stood up, walked around the table and pulled Sam in his arms. In this circle he was not a superior officer, he just was part of Sam's family; and there was nothing keeping him from showing his feelings.

After a while he said, "I'm looking forward to see your new toy, Sam."

"I would not call a car whose twin has been auctioned off for nine-hundred and fifty thousand dollars in 2002 a toy," Sam muttered.

-x-x-x-

About three hours later Sam was back in the garage and once again elbow deep in the engine, though only with one arm. The other was still securely held by the sling. Olivia had volunteered to lend a hand and George and Cassandra had decided to just come and watch. Melinda was working with Alex. They were still painstakingly going over the autopsy reports and parts of the video files to select those most liable to make an impression on the jury. Caroline had excused herself with the remark that charity was hard work and Antonia had left to do some grocery shopping, groaning at her plain-clothes military escort, until Sam pointed out that tall, tough Marines and Airmen were also good to carry bags.

Neither Sam nor Olivia heard the garage door open when Caroline led a dark-haired woman, a tall muscular man and a brunette woman in. Vala started to run as soon as she saw Sam and pulled her in her arms, regardless of the oil stains on the jump suit Caroline had found for Sam. Her bear hug jarred Sam's shoulder which had settled down to a dull throb, but Sam didn't mind. Vala could drive her crazy, hell, Vala Maldoran could drive anyone crazy but once you had gained her trust she was unflinchingly loyal.

"Hello Vala, it's good to see you. Did you have a good trip from Washington?"

"As good as can be expected given that it was so slow. We took a helicopter and then had to endure two more hours in a car, at least they had drinks and snacks. Nuts, salty and oily, and just good enough to drown in. Now, enough about me. What are doing here, all filthy and stuff? I thought you had subordinates to do that for you."

"It's fun, Vala. More fun than driving Cam crazy," Sam answered.

"Nothing is more fun than driving him crazy, at least since Daniel no longer rises to my baits. We'll talk later, but there are two other persons who want to great you."

Ronon was next. He came closer and bowed his head in respect in a way that still reminded Sam of Teal'c.

"Samantha," he said and bent down to kiss her forehead.

With most other people the gesture would have raised her hackles but with him she knew that it was the way a warrior showed his deference to the highest female authority of his people, a mixture of reverence and fierce protection.

Ronan stepped back and Teyla took his place, though she kept a bit more distance between them than Ronon had. They didn't say anything. Finally Sam took a tentative step forward. Teyla followed suite. Sam took another step, and Teyla closed the distance between them. She touched Sam's good shoulder. Her gaze locked on Sam's blue eyes. Her hand slid up to Sam's throat until the side of her thumb caressed Sam's skin. Sam's eyes closed for the fraction of a heartbeat and she put her unrestrained hand on Teyla's.

"You are missed at home," Teyla finally said.

"I will be back soon," Sam answered.

"And you will bring Cassandra?"

"I will bring Cassandra if she still wants to go with me. Let me introduce you to my daughter, my heart-father and my sister."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	28. Chapter 28: Life Worth Living

**CH 28: Life Worth Living**

In the afternoon General Hammond returned to the City and Alex and Melinda once again disappeared in the library to work. Ronon and Vala decided to check on the perimeter guard as soon as they had heard about the children sneaking in the day before. That is Ronon decided to make sure that the local police and the contingent from Cheyenne Mountain did their duty and Vala tagged along, according to her to protect Ronon from being shot by an overzealous airman. From the way Vala looked at the tall Satedan Sam deduced that she had other, less professional and more pleasurable things in mind.

Though Sam was itching to return to work, she stayed with Teyla, Olivia and Cassandra in the living room. They talked about everything and nothing, but prudently stayed away from everything having to do with the upcoming trials. At first the atmosphere was a bit tense but when Teyla learned that she would not have to censor her words because Olivia already knew about Atlantis and the Wraith they mainly focused on life in the Pegasus Galaxy and Olivia shared some of her less gruesome cases with the others. It was a good way to get to know each other. To her surprise Sam found that she felt relieve that Olivia and Cassie seemed to get along fine with Teyla.

Teyla's natural talent for reading people soon let her pick up on a sense of restlessness Sam and Olivia had trouble to hide. She didn't know why they felt that way but she knew what to do about it; with Sam at least it had always worked. So, she challenged both of them to a sparring match.

"Melinda will have a cow if she ever learns about that," Olivia protested half-heartedly.

"A cow?" Teyla asked.

"It means that she will not approve and will probably be angry. Melinda is a healer, like Jennifer. She would not want us to train while injured," Sam explained.

"I promise that I will refrain from exploiting your weak spots, Samantha. I will not attack your shoulder or take advantage of your lack of balance, and I will not attack Olivia's leg or side. I do not know what has both of your leathers in a twist but a bit of friendly sparring is usually the best way to get rid of undirected anxiety."

Teyla chose a patch of grass close to the barn. She gave Olivia a few pointers on how to use the fighting batons she had improvised from some fallen branches. Sam used one of Teyla's weapons. They had agreed on a mock fighting scenario with Olivia and Sam as the defenders and Teyla as the aggressor. Olivia quickly discarded the unfamiliar weapons and used classical hand-to-hand moves to get to Teyla.

A few minutes into the fight Caroline and Antonia joined Cassandra and observed slack-jawed how two women who had known each other for less than two weeks worked together seamlessly, just as if they had spent half a life time training and fighting at each others side. To their untrained eyes, except for the sling Sam was wearing there was no indication that they both were on medical leave and should by all rights rather rest than train. It was an impressive show of physical control.

Olivia stopped after about twenty minutes when she felt her leg giving out on her but Teyla and Sam continued. Their pace picked up and the sparring turned into a dance when Sam, frustrated by her body's frailty, took off the sling. Olivia's eyes widened at the gradual change in both fighters. They became more relaxed and a smile slowly crept on their face. Teyla evaded a sneaky attack by only a margin and laughed while executing a counterattack Sam successfully stopped. They both laughed.

Olivia stretched her hand back and pulled Alex closer when she felt the other woman's presence come up from behind. Alex put her arms around Olivia's middle and leaned against her, her head on Olivia's shoulder. Out of the corner of her eyes Olivia saw that Cassandra and Caroline stopped Melinda from interfering.

"Let them tire each other out, Melinda, please. From the emails Sam wrote over the last few months, those sparring sessions have become their way of calming down and reconnecting after a difficult mission," Cassie said.

Caroline added, "You can assess the damage later, Doctor Warner. Let them both unwind. Besides I have a feeling that this sparring match does more good to Samantha than classical therapy could."

"What makes you think that, Mrs. Cabot?" Melinda asked.

"Just look at them. I have no experience with martial arts or whatever it is they are doing but I can see that both of them are relaxed and having fun. That should be worth a few bruises."

"You have a point, Mrs. Cabot, but I'll still read both of them the riot act as soon as they're finished," Melinda said.

Meanwhile Olivia and Alex were having a conversation of their own, "You know, Liv, those two remind me of us, before we decided to give in and do something about that sexual frustration."

"You think we should give them some pointers, Alex?" Olivia asked with a smile.

"It took us almost a year to see and act on what the rest of the one-six knew about only a couple of months. Do you think they are ready?" Alex said.

"I don't know, but it's worth a try, a careful try. Sam will dig in her heels when she feels pressured in any way."

"Just like you would, right?"

"Yes, Alex, just like me."

-x-x-x-

About half an hour later, Melinda lectured both Sam and Teyla for having acted irresponsibly with Sam's health and jeopardizing her recovery. She was utterly unimpressed by Sam's repeated assertion that she was alright and insisted on checking her out thoroughly. And then she checked her out again, not believing what her medical knowledge was telling her. Sam's range of movement was vastly improved and there was not even a twinge on her face. The skin around the sutures was still pink but no longer puffy and it no longer felt as warm as it had earlier that day.

"It looks as if you got lucky this time, Sam," Melinda finally concluded.

"It has nothing to do with luck, Mel, it's just the way my body works, at least since I went through that DNA sequencer. Jennifer, our doctor, Jennifer Keller has put me through all kind of tests but so far she has not come up with an explanation. This time it took a lot longer for my healing abilities to kick in."

"Do you have any idea why it took longer?"

"I have a few theories. The most logical explanation is that with everything going on my body didn't have enough reserves to spare to start healing itself. Now, it seems my body has recovered enough. I'll be fine, Mel. There's no need to worry."

Melinda studied Sam's still relaxed body language, "I'm starting to believe you, Sam. Now, why don't the two of you go and take a shower? Antonia said that dinner will be ready by seven o'clock. She said something about a celebratory dinner, and I sampled enough of her food to know that I don't want to miss out on that."

-x-x-x-

The dinner lasted late into the night, not only because of the excellence and abundance of food but also because the conversation was flowing freely. Sam was dead tired when she and Cassie finally went to bed. Just like the night before her familiar dream about Janet woke her up, but unlike before she knew exactly what to do with herself. She changed and put on the sling. Sam checked on Cassie to make sure that she was still sleeping peacefully and then walked over to the garage.

The light was on in the work shop area and Teyla was walking around the Maserati with a thoughtful expression on her face. When she heard Sam's steps she turned around and smiled at her.

"You should be in bed and sleep, Teyla."

"So should you, Samantha, but I know that you rarely sleep through the night. I was awake as well; so, I wanted to find out what makes this vehicle special. Cassandra tried to explain it. She said that working on cars or your motorcycle is like working in the lab. She said that it allows you to leave your fears and problems behind, far from painful emotions and memories. I know that this is what you do most nights in Atlantis, but when I saw you today, working on that car, something was different. What I saw on your face and in your eyes it was different than when you try to figure out Ancient or Wraith technology. Today you did not look like you want to solve a riddle; you looked content, almost happy. It's just a vehicle of transport, but you never looked that way at a puddle jumper," Teyla said.

Sam allowed herself a moment to think about an answer that would make Teyla understand, "The last time we went to the mainland together, there was this boy, one of the survivors of the Katarans your people took in. He was staring at the puddle jumper with shining eyes as if it were the most beautiful thing in the world."

"Rodjah, you gave him a tour and explained the instrument panel. I remember. You and John protected his people from the Wraith and saved them."

"One day he might get the chance to fly ships with much more power and better weapons and more beautifully flowing lines, but if I judge him right, he will always be fascinated by puddle jumpers, and not only because they helped to save his life," Sam said.

"You mean one day a puddle jumper might be to him what this vehicle is for you?" Teyla asked. "But I still do not know what it means to you, and Rodjah could have just been curious."

"It's not this particular car, Teyla, it's what those old cars stand for, at least for me. It's hard to explain… Let me show you instead."

Sam led Teyla to the side of the car. She put her hand on top of Teyla's and guided it over the smooth shining metal, "Here on Earth we have always spent a lot of time and effort to kill each other faster and easier than the generation before. When this car was built a war that had set the whole world on fire and had killed more than thirty million people had been over for less than a decade and yet the big nations of this world were already engaged in a race who would build the next, even more deadly weapon first, a bomb like we helped the Genji to build."

Sam let go of Teyla's hand and put some distance between them. Teyla continued to follow the sleek lines with her hands but kept her gaze on Sam.

"This car was not meant to win a war, and it still cost a man his life. It was not meant to help a farmer with his work, but for the people who built and repaired it, it still put bread on the table. This car was meant to bring enjoyment to the people, to those who were driving it and to those who just saw it compete, who saw how it seemed to fly over the asphalt because it slices through the air like a boat through water."

Sam crouched in front of the car, "Keep your hand still for a moment and I'll show you."

She took a deep breath and exhaled on the hood. Moments later Teyla felt a whiff of warm air touch her hand and she had learned enough about the basics of aerodynamics to know that Sam's breath would not have carried that far without the car serving as a conductor.

"Car companies today put their designs in a wind channel, a room in which they create artificial wind to find the form that will give the wind less purchase. The man who designed this car did not have a wind channel. All he had was his experience and he created something that would you put it in a wind channel would probably put most modern designs to shame. But he not only did it to give the car just a little bit more speed, he also chose that form to please the eye.

"Many years ago, when I first saw it on a picture its form reminded me of stones at the edge of the sea with all of their rough edges smoothed away by centuries and centuries of water cascading over them. The lines flow so naturally that it's easy to forget that it was made from metal."

Teyla had circled the heck of the car and was standing right in front of Sam next to the driver's side door. She looked into Sam's eyes and found herself mesmerized by their depth and honesty and enthusiasm. Teyla took the final half-step into Sam's personal space, put one arm around her waist and the other in her neck. She pulled Sam closer still and kissed her.

Their lips touched and Sam felt tingles running down her spine. The tip of Teyla's tongue retraced her lips. Sam raised her good hand to touch Teyla's face. She felt her heart begin to beat faster when Teyla's tongue pressed against the seal between upper and lower lip, not to force but, it seemed to Sam, to ask for entry.

Teyla's eyes were so deep and open and hopeful but with a hint of insecurity that tugged at Sam's heart. She put her hand on Teyla's back and pulled her closer, eliminating the last couple of inches distance between their bodies. She opened her lips and kissed back, growing more confident when they fell into an intricate dance, both giving and taking, both exploring and being explored.

Only once in her life had a first kiss felt this right, the first time Janet had kissed her.

Sam's body stiffened at that thought and her heart suddenly felt as if it wanted to burst in her chest. She was a hair's breadth from running, but one of Teyla's hands was still stroking the base of her neck and the other was drawing circles on the small of her back.

It felt right being held that way and she allowed her hand to run up and down the length of Teyla's back. Her heartbeat had settled back to something akin to normal when they had to break the kiss. She saw the anxiety on Teyla's face and that open expression in her eyes. The expression that seemed to talk to her, the expression telling her that whatever would happen next would be up to her. And her body reacted to it.

Her muscles relaxed and she pressed closer against Teyla's body. Her nostrils flared at the hint of a scent that had captivated her from the first time she had had the chance to smell it at the end of a sparring session, a mixture of sweat and something more she up until now had not had the courage to try to even define.

Sam let her hand glide up to Teyla's neck, mimicking the position of Teyla's hand on hers. She searched Teyla's lips with her own and moments later they once again were engaged in an intricate dance of tongues, lips and the careful scraping of teeth.

Sam's heartbeat picked up and Teyla's was not far behind. She tried to keep her eyes open, tried to use at least one part of her brain to analyze what was going on between them. Her body had other ideas, it longed for more. So, she didn't even try to resist when Teyla pressed her against the side of the car. She somehow managed to unclasp the sling and let her now freed hand resume the stroking of Teyla's back.

The second time she brushed over the hemline of Teyla's tank top she allowed her hands to slip under the fabric. Teyla's warm, smooth skin under her fingertips felt better than good. It felt right. It felt like coming home. It felt like it should go on forever.

But even this kiss had to end and Teyla slowly took a step backwards.

"We will have to talk, soon, but not now," Sam finally said.

She felt a strange sense of peace and hope. She smiled and was still touching Teyla though her hand was no longer roaming over naked skin.

Teyla smiled back. Her eyes sparkled. She took a step to the side, took Sam's hand and guided it back to the metal body of the Maserati. She let her own hand rest on top of Sam's and asked her to tell her more about the car. To Sam Teyla's voice sounded low and sensual and she had to fight down a sudden spike of arousal the like of which she had not felt in years.

"I'd love to, Teyla, but let's go back to the house and have some tea. With the kitchen counter between us it will be easier to resist the urge to kiss you again, and as much as I want to do this right now, I do not want to do it before we have talked."

Teyla nodded, they cut off the light and walked back to the house, completely oblivious that they were holding hands.

-x-x-x-

Melinda let them know that she had a pile of work waiting for her at the coroner's office and had to return to Manhattan. Caroline offered to take her in the limo. Seeing Cassie in Sam's last clean, black regulation T-shirt, Caroline had decided that Cassandra could not continue to borrow from Sam's limited clothes' collection and that they would have to do some serious shopping. For security reasons it would have been unwise for Alex, Sam or Olivia to go with them, but Vala accepted Caroline's invitation. Ronon quickly made it clear that he would not let them go without adequate protection, and in his eyes he was the only one qualified to do so.

Alex retired to one of the offices for a video conference with Abbie, Christina and Nick to once again go over their strategy and start planning Monday's opening statement. Casey would join them as soon as she had finished her own talk with Munch and Fin who had been sent to Philadelphia to corroborate Gwen Green's testimony about the itinerary of Carl's gang and subsequently Addison Williamson. At this point it was nothing more than a formality, but she wanted to make a hundred percent sure that the defense would not find even the tiniest hole in her arguments.

That left Sam, Olivia and Teyla with nothing to do, at least after they had filled the washer/dryer with Sam and Olivia's shirts. Sam's enthusiasm for the Maserati was unabated and she convinced the other two to go with her and at least keep her company. Both women were quick learners, and apart from frequently lingering looks between Sam and Teyla that were not lost on the trained detective, all three of them lost track of time.

"Time for lunch, grease monkeys," Alex said from the open garage door.

Teyla looked up and Olivia turned around to smile at her lover. She cleaned her hands superficially on a rag. Alex looked tired and given the night she had had, with heavy cramps once again keeping her from sleeping, Olivia was not surprised. The way Alex carried herself told her that she still or again was in pain. Olivia just wanted to hold her and protect her.

"Stop right there, Detective," Alex said. "I won't let you touch me as filthy as you are. Antonia said that lunch will be on the table in twenty minutes, just enough time for the three of you to take a shower and make yourself presentable. My mother called to say that they will make a pass by my and your apartment and pack some clothes for us. Cassie, Ronon and her will be back in time for dinner."

Olivia didn't let Alex' words deter her. She took two steps forward, stretched a bit and planted a quick kiss on her beloved's lips. Alex wanted to scowl at Olivia but the feeling of Olivia's lips on her own and the fleeting touch of the tip of her tongue was more than Alex could resist. She closed her arms around Olivia's torso and turned a teasing kiss into something much more passionate. It did not take as long as it could have, but long enough for both of their breathing to get ragged.

Olivia was first to regain her breath, "Now, Counselor, we'll both need a shower."

In the meantime Teyla had gained Sam's attention by blowing a hot wave of air in her ear while she was bent over the engine, "Samantha, what is a grease monkey?"

-x-x-x-

Sam, Teyla and Olivia returned to the garage right after lunch. Alex had told them that Abbie, Casey and Christina would arrive later that day. Some things were better said in person than via a screen. So, Olivia was not surprised when she heard several pairs of footsteps nearing the work area.

She was surprised to hear Abbie saying what she did, "Holy cow! I'll shit fire, that's just… wow! I'll be damned."

Abbie was wearing one of her court suits but the expression on her face and the wonder in her eyes let her look like a ten-year-old who had just found the best toy ever.

"If I had even suspected to find something like this under the tarp, Princess, I would have torn it off years ago. It's more than just beautiful."

"Get a grip, Cowboy. We have work to do. You can drool over it later. Sam, Olivia, we'll need your input somewhere along the line. Should we come get you then or would you prefer to hear it all?"

Sam cast a lingering look back at the half dismantled engine when they returned to the house to help the lawyers prepare their case. Teyla insisted on being present as well. She took a seat in Sam's line of sight and the frequent looks they exchanged were not lost on any of the other women.

They only stopped working when Caroline, Cassandra and Ronon returned from Manhattan, with what seemed to amount to a trunk full of shopping bags about an hour before dinner. Caroline had not only purchased at least half a wardrobe for Cassie, they also had a suitcase each for Olivia and Alex, and a couple of jeans and slacks, shirts and T-shirts and other necessities for Sam.

Over the past few days Sam had seen enough of Caroline and Alex' generosity and stubbornness, of what Captain Cragen called 'the Cabot factor', to know that it would be futile to even try to repay them in dollars. So, she graciously thanked Caroline and promised herself find another way to make it up to her.

After dinner Abbie and Alex wanted to get back to work, but Caroline convinced, no, she commanded them not to. She said that they had the rest of the weekend to finalize the details. Olivia saw the still lingering looks between Sam and Teyla, the expressions of longing and insecurity she remembered all too well from the beginning of her relationship with Alex. So, she wholeheartedly agreed.

Now the only problem was to get Sam and Teyla to spend time alone, to offer them the chance to talk about the things that were still being unsaid between them. Cassie seemed to have picked up on Olivia's train of thought and proposed to play a round of 'Stratego'. She knew that Sam hated that game with a passion because, according to her, everything about it was unrealistic and a total scam. So, Sam excused herself to return to the Maserati and Teyla went with her.

-x-x-x

Instead of going there Sam led Teyla around the back of the house to the slide door entrance of the meditation room. It took Sam a few tries to activate the indirect light coming from the back wall and the muted spots directed towards the bonsai trees. She showed Teyla a compartment with big, plush pillows they arranged in the middle of the room with a view to the faintly illuminated stone garden.

They sat down, close enough to feel the other breathe but not close enough to touch, and looked out into the night when Sam asked, "Why did you kiss me?"

"Why did you return the kiss?"

"I hope for the same reason you kissed me," Sam said and turned her head towards her companion.

Teyla looked back at her, her expression was still open, inviting and reassuring at once, but there was also something else there. The best word Sam could come up with was 'guarded'. It told her that unlike earlier that day it would be up to her to make the first step.

She turned around completely and focused all of her attention on Teyla, "We should speak about them, but I don't know where to begin."

"Elizabeth will always be in my heart. She taught me that there's more to life than surviving." Teyla had also turned around, and so they were sitting cross-legged, facing each other with their knees almost touching.

"And Janet will always be in mine. She taught me that love is the one gift that keeps growing the more of it we give to others. It was a hard lesson to learn."

"I resented you for taking her place," Teyla said, "and I wanted you to fail. And then I slowly began to understand that though you did not follow in her footsteps and did things your way, you were still leading Atlantis in the direction she would have wanted us to move."

"Elizabeth was a good friend to me. She made staying at the base after Janet's death almost bearable. Elizabeth will also always be in my heart."

Sam didn't say that should there ever be even a shadow of a chance to get the other woman back she would go and do it herself, but Teyla seemed to also hear the unspoken. She put a reassuring hand on Sam's left knee.

"For a long time I thought I would betray Elizabeth if I ever let someone else in my heart, and then one day when we were on the mainland visiting my people I found out that you already had a place in my heart. I tried to keep my distance from you then because it felt as if I were unfaithful to Elizabeth. I tried to ignore my feelings but when you and Jennifer were supposedly lost off-world I began to accept your presence in my heart, with our shaman's help."

"So, you have known for a long time. Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"You were not ready, Samantha," Teyla said.

"And now I am. How did you know, Teyla? I didn't until you kissed me and held me in your arms, but since then so many of the things I've thought and felt for months suddenly made sense."

"I did not know. I just acted on instinct. Tonight, well earlier that day when you talked about the car you were so vibrant, so beautiful, so alive – and it hit me even harder because only a few days ago I came close to losing you without ever having taken the chance to show you."

"I'm glad that you took that chance, Teyla. If you had waited for me to act it might have taken a whole Wraith hibernation cycle before I might have come to my senses," Sam's teasing words did not match the tone of her voice.

"Working on the car helped me think. Before we kissed the feelings I have for you and could not shut down hurt. Everything I felt for you reminded me of what I lost with Janet's death. Even during our first kiss I was afraid that what we were doing would somehow take away from my feeling for her, but when I later thought about it I found that Janet's place in my heart was still untouched, only that now there is someone standing right beside her, someone I didn't allow myself to see before."

Sam stretched out her hand and their fingers intertwined.

"Do you see me now?"

"Yes, I do. I'm glad that you had so much patience with me."

"Judging by those few kisses it has been definitively worth the wait, but maybe we should kiss again to be certain that Elizabeth and Janet are still in their rightful place."

Sam smiled broadly, pulled Teyla closer and kissed her. One kiss turned into a dozen. The moon appeared on the night sky. Sam's blood was boiling with need but when Teyla started to unbutton Sam's jeans she stopped her.

"No, Teyla, no, we have to stop. I want more than just one night of passion with you, Teyla Emmagan. I want to woo you and seduce you, and I want the first time we make love to be on the mainland, on New Athosia, surrounded by your people."

Teyla sat up and stared at her with wide, surprised eyes. Sam looked back at her calmly. Some time today, while removing the old wiring of the Maserati, she had decided to no longer hold back and go for what she really wanted. Sam knew exactly what she had just said and what it meant in Athosian society.

Teyla continued to scrutinize her and Sam had a hard time not to start to fidget. She had to stay calm to convince Teyla that she really had meant it.

"Are you sure?" Teyla asked though deep down she knew that Sam's choice of words had been very deliberate and that she never would say something like that lightly or in jest. "Are you sure that you don't fall from one end to the other?"

"It's: go from one extreme to the other, and yes in a way I do. Going from barely being able to look at you for fear of taking something away from Janet to wanting to share the rest of my life with you was kind of extreme. But it's not a spur of the moment decision. Your kiss, our kiss earlier has just shredded the veil I had pulled over the truth. It has enabled me to see. So, yes, Teyla, I am sure."

"Then I am as well," Teyla answered and gave Sam a chaste kiss. "We should go to bed then."

"Let us stay here. The cushions are comfortable and I want to hold you tonight and I want to be held by you," Sam said.

That night Sam only woke up once. In her dreams she had once again made love to Janet, but this time the scenery had not changed and Janet had not died in her arms. Secure in Teyla's embrace Sam quickly fell back asleep, not knowing that her soon-to-be lover was having a very similar dream.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	29. Chapter 29: On the Stand

**CH 29: On the Stand**

Sam, Cassie and Olivia spent the weekend in consecutive sessions with the three lawyers to go over their upcoming testimonies in the Williamson and Kelles case. The rest of the time they occupied themselves with checking on the newborn filly and tinkering with the car. They talked and got to know each other. Late Saturday afternoon Teyla and Ronon gave a sparring demonstration and Sam decided to use the time to talk to Cassandra, not only about her new relationship with Teyla but also about Cassie's plans for the immediate future after the trials.

She had not the slightest idea how to broach either of those subjects. Luckily Cassie knew Sam very well. She walked over to her and put her arm around Sam's waist, seemingly only interested in the sparring.

"Teyla is a very beautiful woman, Mum. You know she looks at you the same way you look at her."

"Are we that obvious?" Sam asked though she knew the answer. Cassie was nothing if not perceptive and they had not even tried to hide their frequently lingering looks.

"Are you kidding, Sam? Only to everyone with eyes to see in a two hundred miles radius. Mom would love to see that sparkle back in your eyes," Cassie said, now focused on Sam's reaction only.

"Are you sure, Cassie? I don't want to lose my love for Janet and I don't want you to think that I don't love her anymore," Sam asked.

"You will always love Mom, Sam, nothing will ever be able to change that, just like Teyla will always love Elizabeth Weir," Cassie said with conviction. "They are both gone and now you both are ready to let someone else in. You have been ready for a while now, Mum, you were just too stubborn to see it."

"What are you talking about, Cassie?"

"Oh, Sam, do you really need me to spell it out for you? Every single one of your emails at least mentioned Teyla, in most of them she was your main topic. Mom is happy for you, I'm sure, and so would Elizabeth. Teyla and you are drawn to each other, just like Teyla was drawn to Elizabeth and you were drawn to Mum. Hell, given the slightest chance you even might have made a great foursome."

"Cassandra Fraiser, mind your words. What could possibly make you think something like that? I would never cheat on Janet," Sam protested.

"Sam, you're so easy to bait. Relax, but jesting aside whether it would have turned sexually intimate or not you would have become great friends and allies had they both lived, and please, don't tell me that you never would have been assigned to Atlantis had Elizabeth not sacrificed herself to save the City."

Sam's mind was running a mile a minute. She tried to come up with something to disapprove Cassie's hypothesis, but had to discard her points as fast as she thought of them.

"So, do we have your blessing, Cassie?"

Cassandra kissed Sam on the cheek, "Yes, Sam, you have my blessing. What I don't understand is why you have not made love yet. The setting in the meditation room was romantic enough."

Sam's eyes widened, her mouth was half open, she blushed and she had not the faintest idea what to say. Her imitation of a fish out of water made Cassie laugh again.

"Gods, I missed teasing you. It's so much fun."

Sam's expression didn't change and slowly understanding dawned on Cassie, "Damn, Sam, I'm sorry. I never would have teased you had I known that you really have not made love yet."

Teyla who had finished the demonstration and left Ronon to explain some moves to Vala, Olivia and Casey, stepped up to Sam's other side. She had heard the last part of their conversation, and kissed Sam on the cheek in a gesture very similar to Cassie's, but with a completely different meaning.

"Samantha wants to wait until we are home, on the mainland, among the Athosian people."

Though Cassandra didn't yet know much about Athosian customs and traditions, Sam's emails had taught her enough to see the similarities between her own culture, on Hanka, and them. So, it did not take her long to grasp the portent of Teyla's words.

"A commitment? A real hand-fasting? That's so great," she said and pulled them both in a bear hug. "I'm so happy for you."

Sam had tears in her eyes at Cassie's sincere joy and squeezed her back, almost making Cassie lose her precarious balance on her broken leg.

-x-x-x-

Monday came fast for all of them, but then it dragged on for Sam like an eternity and a half. Alex and Olivia did their best to keep them up to date by calling them every time Judge Petrovsky called a recess. When the judge adjourned court to the next day both decided to stay in town overnight. The commute to the Hamptons would just take too much time.

So far everything had gone as expected, aside from the fact that Defense Attorney Trevor Langan had on instruction from his client allowed the reading of the complete charges. The looks on the faces of the jury members had been everything Alex and Abbie could have hoped for. Olivia's testimony had gone smoothly and, with Abbie focusing on the bare facts, much faster than they had initially anticipated.

Langan had started his cross examination with Williamson sitting behind the defendant's table with an expression of utter boredom on his face. Olivia had not fallen for any of Langan's ploys to get her to contradict herself. Alex or Abbie had objected to at least every third question because it had either been badgering, insulting or leading. So, when Judge Petrovsky had adjourned court half an hour early she had done it with a warning to the defense to stop his 'rhetorical High School antics and primitive psychological ploys' or find himself in contempt of court.

According to Alex that should have been enough to make the rest of Trevor Langan's cross go smoothly. She expected Sam to be called to the witness stand early the following afternoon.

After Lena Petrovsky had ended the court session Alex had insisted on writing some extensive notes about the questions Langan had asked so far, and after that Olivia led her beloved to a certain small Chinese restaurant that once had been their favorite. Olivia had been greeted in the usual way but the waiter had almost done a double take at seeing Alex. They had been ushered to a table and moments later Uncle Hong was standing next to them. In a completely uncharacteristic show of affection he had pulled Alex in a hug and had told them that now that 'lan se yan jing bing' had worked her magic and they had come full circle tonight's dinner would be on the house.

Alex would not have been one of the finest prosecutors in New York County had she not asked for an explanation, but all the old man had said was that the future would tell and to be patient until it was ready to reveal itself.

Uncle Hong had taken a special interest in Alex and Olivia from the first day they had come to share a meal. In the past he more than once had given them some advice that had made no sense at all then and only revealed its worth in retrospect. So, neither Alex nor Olivia had asked any further questions. They knew that the answer would come in time and called a cab to Olivia's apartment.

-x-x-x-

Alex had spent the better part of the cab drive letting her left hand roam over the inside of Olivia's right thigh and when they finally had paid the driver, ascended the stairs and closed the doors behind them, it should have come as no surprise to anyone that Alex found herself pressed against the door being kissed senseless.

"You're a tease, Alexandra Cabot, and I do not like to be teased," Olivia said with mock threat in her voice.

"I'm a prosecutor, Detective, you cannot lie to me. You love to be teased. It makes you all hot and ready for me," Alex said breathily.

"Is that so, Councilor? You know two can play that game."

"Think so, Detective. Don't forget, you still owe me eight thousand three hundred and ten Monopoly dollars, and I'm more than ready to collect on that debt," Alex said.

"Collect your money, hmm…", Olivia kissed Alex again, claiming her mouth and lips with unbridled passion. When there lips finally parted Olivia asked, "So, does that mean that you'd make Sam work off the five grand plus she owes you from that game in kind?"

Alex laughed, "Oh, I don't know. I'm sure that Teyla would object to that but I could be convinced to let you pay for your sister."

Olivia had opened the buttons of Alex' dress shirt and kissed a fiery trail down to the edge of her silk bra. Between kisses she said, "And what do you have in mind, Councilor? Turn me into your sex slave for the night?"

Alex moaned when Olivia cupped her breasts after having unhooked the front clasp of the bra but she was not yet ready to give into her mutual desire. So, she said, "You must think rather highly of your abilities, Detective Benson, if you really believe that one night with you could possibly be worth more than thirteen thousand dollars, even if it's only Monopoly money. Care to…"

She moaned again when Olivia suckled her nipple while peeling her out of her jacket and shirt and unzipping her skirt, "Care to put your tongue where your mouth is, Detec… Oh, Liv, please, harder, let me feel your touch."

"That's my girl," Olivia said while changing sides and starting to lick the other nipple which immediately responded.

Her left hand went up to the abandoned breast and the right hand sneaked under the waistband of Alex' pantyhose and panties. Feeling Alex' wetness on her fingertips turned her on and she longed to get the rest of her clothing off of her blonde beauty. She teased Alex' clit and gently bit down on her nipple.

Alex arched her back and bucked her hips. Alex' hands were pressed flat against the door as if held by an invisible force. Her eyes were closed and even the slightest hint of banter had fled from her voice. Olivia rubbed tiny circles over Alex' clitoris. Her heartbeat was picking up in response to Alex' open abandonment to her ministrations. So, she decided to put a lid on her own reactions. She wanted to bring Alex to at least one orgasm before retiring to the bedroom. Olivia didn't know if it had been the successful day in court or the fact that their bodies still seemed to be eager to make up for lost time that made Alex so extremely responsive but she was determined to take advantage of it as long as her own body would let her.

"Liv, please, more… go inside, please…" Alex' words turned into a moan that turned into panting and more hip-bucking when Olivia entered her with two fingers and pressed her thumb against Alex' throbbing clit. Olivia pinched one nipple and bit down on the other a bit harder. She felt Alex' body shudder. Alex' inner muscles clenched around her fingers. She pressed harder against Alex' clit. She abandoned the nipple and swallowed Alex passionate outcry by kissing her. She led Alex ride out her orgasm, her own centre pulsing with need.

Olivia waited for Alex to calm down and slowly moved Alex' hands to meet behind her neck, "Put you legs around my hips and hold on, my Lex. It's time to take this to the bedroom. You're still way overdressed."

It was a testament to Alex' still lingering arousal that she simply complied without giving even the slightest thought to Olivia's injuries. Alex used the short journey to the bedroom to nuzzle Olivia's neck and whisper in her ear what she wanted to do to her as soon as she had her naked and at her mercy. Olivia answered her by squeezing her buttocks, a promise and a challenge at once.

Olivia gently put Alex on the big four poster bed. She knelt in front of her, removed the high heels and kissed the nylon clad feet, one after the other. Alex quickly divested herself of the rest of her clothing, enabling Olivia to pull pantyhose and panties off at the same time.

"Please, Live, let me touch you. I need to feel your skin on mine. I need to hear your heart beat, please, my life."

The pleading sent a wave of heat right to Olivia's centre but she was not ready yet to give in to her own desires. Olivia let her fingers slowly glide up Alex' endless legs. She gently parted them and settled in between her knees. Alex' sex was glistening with wetness and her scent up close was so intoxicating it made Olivia's heart skip a beat. She started with an almost chaste kiss on Alex' blond curls, just her lips and the slightest touch of the tip of her tongue. Alex scooted closer to the edge of the bed to allow Olivia better access and moaned in anticipation.

"So eager, my Lex. I'm here, just enjoy. Let me care for you, let me love you. You'll get your turn later, I promise."

Alex moaned again and Olivia took it as an invitation to proceed. Initially she had intended to tease Alex and draw it out as much as she could but now with Alex' beautiful fold right in front of her, Alex' scent clouding her mind and her own juices pooling between her legs her playfulness was replaced by a deep need to taste her beloved Alex.

Olivia focused all of her considerable attention on pleasing Alex and she soon had to grab hold of Alex' bucking hips to hold her still. It was an extreme turn-on to see and feel Alex give herself so freely and allow Olivia so much control. They came together but Olivia didn't stop licking until Alex had calmed down again.

When she moved away, Alex protested. "I'll be back soon, my Lex, don't pout."

Olivia walked out of the bedroom to the kitchen where she poured a big glass of Merlot and grabbed a big bottle of water from the fridge. Alex was still sprawled across the bed, apparently not having moved a muscle. Olivia put her bounty on the nightstand, undressed quickly and crawled next to her beloved. She pulled her in her arms and offered her the water.

"Drink, Lexi. I don't want you to get dehydrated. The night is still young."

Alex snuggled in her arms and sighed contentedly. She made visual contact with Olivia's deep brown eyes, "Do you have any idea how much I love you, my Liv, my life?"

"I hope that you love me as much as I love you, my Lex, my law. Would you share a glass of wine with me, Princess?"

Alex groaned, "I really wish you would have never heard that particular nickname, but yes. I'd love to share some wine with you. After all, I need to keep my strength up to make you feel as good as you made me feel. I want to taste you and hold you and make you scream my name. I want to feel my fingers squeezed deep inside of me and see you come for me."

Olivia put the glass back on the nightstand without any of them having taken even a sip and kissed Alex, deeply, passionately. Neither of them got much sleep that night, but they also would not have wanted it any other way.

-x-x-x-

Sam fell asleep late that night on her bed next to Cassie's and once again the familiar nightmare woke her up after only a few hours. Cassie, fortunately, was still sleeping soundly. So, Sam stood up and walked over to the garage though she was tempted to slip into Teyla's room and snuggle up to her in bed. After about an hour cleaning parts Sam heard Teyla's footsteps, and moments later Teyla's arms closed around her middle from behind. Soft lips kissed the side of her neck and she instinctively pressed against Teyla's body. She sighed and turned around, embracing her. They kissed.

Teyla smiled at her, "Last night I thought it was only my imagination, but now I'm sure that the bed in my room is not half as comfortable as the cushions in the other room with you in my arms," Teyla said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"That's curious," Sam answered. "I, too, sleep better holding you."

"Then let's go. My bed is big enough for two and you have a long day ahead of you," Teyla said.

"Will you come with me tomorrow?" Sam asked in a bout of insecurity.

"A whole Hive ship on a rampage could not keep me away, Samantha, before, during and after your testimony. Vala, Caroline and Ronon already promised to keep Cassandra busy until it's her turn to testify."

"You thought of everything, didn't you?" Sam asked.

"Not me, Sam. Olivia did. Now, come. I have a feeling that my bed will be much more comfortable with you in it."

Sam did not need any further prompting and slept through the rest of the night without any nightmares or disturbances of any other kind.

-x-x-x-

When they left the Cabot Estate the next morning with Sam dressed in her dress uniform, complete with hat and regulation heels, she was surprised to see Captain Jennifer Hailey dressed in a business pant suit that probably concealed more than one weapon as part of the security detail escorting Teyla and her to the courthouse. Hailey was riding shot-gun in the passenger seat of the limousine, so they only got a chance to talk once they had reached the waiting room next to Judge Petrovky's chambers.

Sam introduced Jennifer and Teyla and then asked, "Is playing bodyguard not beneath the job description of a captain?"

"Not if that captain is protecting her commanding officer, Colonel Carter. My transfer request has finally been granted and I'm really looking forward to learn from you," Jennifer said.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Captain, but I'm glad to have you on board, Jennifer. President Hayes mentioned something about an increase in personnel but I was told that I'll only learn the specifics when I'm back on duty. Or would you care to fill me in?"

"I'm under strict orders from the commanding officer of Homeworld Security to make sure that you enjoy your time off and don't even think about work, and speaking of that, I heard a rumor that you're restoring an old Maserati race car. You wouldn't by any chance need another pair of hands?"

"There's a lot of rewiring to be done, Jennifer, so, yes, I guess we could need some more help, but that Maserati is not just any race car…"

The short blonde and Sam started to talk about race cars in general and the Maserati coupé in particular and Teyla soon tuned them out, not only because she only understood a quarter of what they were saying. Teyla's focus was on their interaction. Ever since Rodney and John had instituted regular ping-pong contests at Atlantis, she reluctantly had become familiar with the lingo; and in those terms, what she was seeing now was a routine warm-up. She was looking forward to see them exchange ideas or even disagree about something. Teyla was quite sure that it would be worth witnessing.

Alex had lunch delivered to the waiting room. Sam's testimony would be up right after the lunch break, and as much as she hated to admit it she was getting nervous. Sam had taken off her jacket and Teyla stood behind her and massaged her shoulders. The tension in her body slowly ebbed off; the tension in her mind did not. Her testimony was too important.

-x-x-x-

"The People call Colonel Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force," Abbie said.

The double door in the back opened and Sam stepped in. She was aware of the dozen pairs of eyes following her progress to the witness stand. Sam was sworn in and took a seat. She kept her eyes on Abbie and time and again made visual contact with a jury member, but was careful not to single one out. She was calm and collected with an undertone of controlled emotions, a model witness.

To the uninformed observer it seemed as if she was completely ignoring Williamson and his attorney, but she kept them both in her peripheral vision. She saw the hate in Williamson's eyes and Trevor Langan's restraining hand on his arm. He was whispering to his client but Sam was reasonably sure that Williamson was not really listening.

It took Sam almost two hours to recount everything the jury had already heard from Olivia from her perspective. And then it was Langan's turn.

"Miss Carter, you admitted earlier that you illegally gained access to the database of the police departments of Denver, Philadelphia and New York as well as the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. What kind of a deal did you strike with the prosecution to make them drop the charges?"

"Objection, your honor," Alex shouted.

"It goes for the credibility of the witness, your honor," Langan said with a wide grin.

"Your honor, if you would, I'd like to answer the question and rebut the defense's allegations," Sam said.

"Go ahead, Colonel Carter, and Mister Langan, for the record, I do not appreciate they way you try to discredit a highly decorated member of our armed forces."

Sam suppressed a smile at Judge Petrovsky's reprimanding tone. She made eye contact with Langan, "I will not face any charges, Mister Langan, because the information I provided for the detectives of the Special Victims Unit was not obtained illegally. In the pursuit of my duties as an Air Force Officer I often deal with sensitive information. My security clearance allows me to access any database I may need and I used my skills to help find my adoptive daughter. I'm sure the people's representatives can provide another copy of the relevant documentation that has been sent to you together with the other trial files. And Mister Langan, it is customary to address a member of the armed forces by rank."

"So, Colonel Carter, you are telling me that you have the authorization to access any kind of confidential information you may fancy. That lets Big Brother appear like a rank amateur."

"Objection, your honor. The defense is rambling or was there a question in there somewhere?" Alex asked.

"Sustained. Ask your question, Mister Langan."

"Withdrawn. Colonel Carter, something else. My client confided in you when he confessed to you the day after his arrest. He even addressed you as an angel, did he not?"

"Yes, he did."

"So, when my client bared his heart and his soul to you, he saw you as a religious icon. By taking his confession you performed the duty of a priest. Is that not right?"

"It is not right, Mister Langan. After his arrest Mr. Williamson refused to talk to the authorities, local or federal, but signaled his willingness to talk to me. The interview took place in an interrogation room at the 16th precinct and your client was aware that what he told me would be recorded."

"And yet he referred to you repeatedly as his angel when he confessed to you and bared his soul to you, right, Colonel Carter?"

"No, he told me that I look like an angel, once, at the beginning of his statement. Only the day before, he had called me a spawn of the devil," Sam kept some of her attention on Williamson. The man was visibly seething. So, she decided to provoke him, "Maybe you should ask your client how he sees me now, Mister Langan."

Williamson jumped from his seat and shouted, "You'll burn in hell, abomination. Women have no place among the heroes defending our way of life."

"Mister Langan call your client to order or I will have him excluded from the further proceedings. You have five minutes."

"Thank you, your honor."

Langan walked over to the defense table and started to whisper hurriedly to Williamson. Even from her place on the stand Sam could see a vein on Williamson's temple throbbing. She had expected that he would act adversely to seeing her in her dress blues though she had not expected that he would be so easily provoked.

Sam surreptitiously observed the reaction of the jurors. Some were visibly shocked. Others were taking notes and on a few faces Sam saw something akin to disgust.

Finally Williamson sat down again and Langan addressed the court, "No further questions, your honor."

"Call your next witness, Miss Carmichael," Judge Petrovsky said.

"The people ask for a short recess. We had not expected the cross examination to finish this early. We'll need a few minutes to call in Detective Adam Kettler of the Crime Scene Investigative Unit," Abbie said.

-x-x-x-

Kettler reported on CSU's findings at the warehouse, and to everyone's surprise Langan declared that the defense had no questions. The same pattern repeated with Melinda Warner's testimony. Court was adjourned to the next day Abbie and Alex had scheduled for the viewing of Williamson's video files, or at least a sample of the files he had had hidden in the cross.

When they all left the courtroom for the day they were immediately surrounded by a detachment of SFs and greeted by General Hammond and Captain Hailey.

"General Hammond, sir, what is going on? Has something happened?"

"There have been threats made against Miss Fraiser, Miss Cabot, Detective Benson and you, Colonel Carter. We have reason to believe that they are genuine and think that we can protect you better if you are all in one location. Cassandra is being escorted to town as we speak and rooms at the Plaza have been reserved for you all."

"What do we know about the origin of the threats, Sir?" Sam asked.

"Captain Hailey will tell you everything we know so far," George Hammond said in a tone that made it clear to Sam that he would not answer any further questions, not at the court house.

"I understand, Sir."

The drive over to the Plaza was silent. Alex and Olivia were unobtrusively snuggled against each other. Teyla and Sam maintained a bit more distance between them, but General Hammond who was facing them in the limousine still saw the change in Sam, the tiny hint of that lively sparkle back in her eyes he had been missing for more than three and a half years now.

It turned out the whole fifteenth floor of the Plaza had been reserved for them and that the security measures could only be called extensive. When they entered the lobby Sam spotted four plain-clothed police officers and at least another four SFs. Their elevator was locked onto their floor without any stops. Armed guards were posted every twenty yards.

Instead of being led to a bedroom General Hammond opened the door to a conference room where they found George Huang, Captain Cragen and the other detectives of the one-six, Agent Hotchner and a few other people that literally screamed FBI, Colonel Sidney, the head of special ops of Homeworld Security, and a couple of his men.

The presence of Jarod Sidney was enough to make it more than abundantly clear to Sam that this was about more than just some threats, "General Hammond, Sir, would you please fill us in on what is really going on?"

"I will, Samantha, but we'll have to wait a bit longer. There are still a few people missing, and I do not want to repeat myself. Help yourself to some refreshments in the meantime."

Sam had just had the time to greet her former colleagues from Cheyenne Mountain when the door to the conference room opened again. Caroline and Cassie stepped in, followed by Vala, Antonia and Ronon. Rushing over to greet her daughter Sam unclasped her sling and embraced her daughter.

She closed her arms around Cassie and felt the tension in her body, as taught as a stringed bow, "Are you alright, kiddo?"

"I will be, Mum."

Before Cassandra had the chance to say more the door to the conference room opened once again and Casey stepped in, flanked by Christina, Nick and Gwendolyn Green. Gwen was a bit pale and Olivia quickly guided her to the empty chair next to hers and offered her a glass of water.

General Hammond stood at the head of the conference table and waited for everyone to settle down, "Earlier that day CNN received a so far untraceable email from an organization who call themselves the 'Supremacy Alliance'. The name speaks for itself and I will not honor them to repeat the ramblings about male superiority. Bottom line is, they threaten to kill the prosecutors and the key witnesses in both the Williamson and the Kelles case as a gesture of solidarity with, as it said in the email, 'those two martyrs of God's Order'.

Verbal threats from an extremist group alone would not have prompted this move to the Plaza. Miss Green received a letter bomb with enough explosives to level half of the house she was staying in. Major Farthington luckily was able to defuse the bomb and immediately alerted us. Another bomb arrived at the Cabot Estate but was intercepted in time. Whoever built those bombs knew what they were doing, and they did not leave any trace evidence. So, we take those threats seriously."

"Sir, what do we know about that Supremacy Alliance? And is there reason to believe that they will also target Judge Petrovsky? If they are as misogynistic as you say it would be logical to assume that their hatred extents to every woman in a position of authority," Sam said.

"Judge Petrovsky and Judge Preston have a security detail of their own. It would have jeopardized the case to also bring them here," General Hammond said. "BAU has already worked on a profile for the Supremacy Alliance, but so far we have not found many hard facts. We don't even know where their headquarters are."

General Hammond took a seat and a tall, slim, dark haired woman stood up, "My name is Emily Prentiss, I will tell you what we think so far…."

Sam only listened with half an ear. She already knew everything she needed to know about this alliance. They were not different than many of the androcentric societies she had had to deal with off-world; men who were so insecure that they had to keep others down at all costs. They might call it protection or the natural order of things but it was nothing but fear that motivated them. She kept a hand on Cassie's back. Sam wanted to hurt them all just for creating the tension she felt under her fingertips. She wanted to hunt them down and show them up close and personal how superior they were not. To do that she would have to find them first.

"…our computer specialist is trawling the internet to find out more about them, so far without much luck. We will fine tune the profile as soon as we have more data. Are there any questions?"

"What do we know about the email? And will CNN make a story of it?"

"The news director is a woman. She said that she will not give those Neanderthals a forum, at least not as long as nothing happens. She wants an exclusive then," a blonde woman said. Her name, Sam learned later, was Jennifer Jareau and she was the press liaison officer of the BAU. "And so far even Penny's considerable skills have been unable to trace the email."

"Captain Hailey and I might be able to help with that," Sam said.

"No offence, Colonel Carter, but Penelope Garcia is the best. If she can't do it nobody can," another man from the BAU team said who later introduced himself as Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan.

"Three brains work better than one and three processor units should be able to triangulate the origin of the email. It should be just a question of synchronizing our efforts. General Hammond, with your permission, I'd like to get started."

"Of course, Colonel Carter, you can set up your equipment in the main room of suite fifteen o two. Captain Hailey, consider your transfer effective immediately."

"Yes Sir."

"Will you be alright alone, Cassie?" Sam asked.

"Yes, Mum. I'll catch up with Christina and Nick, but I would be grateful if you could give me something to do later."

"There are some things the three of you can do now. I have no idea how long the triangulation will take. The three of you can give us a head start on identifying possible members of the Alliance by checking personal files of the armed forces for men who either quit or were discharged because they didn't want to work with a woman as a superior officer or similar scenarios," Sam said.

"We should be able to do that with a simple search algorithm but you will have to access the databases for us first. Why don't we go with you right away? That is if you do not need them for something else, Casey?"

"No, not at the moment, but I think I'll go with you. I'm not good at having nothing to do."

"Fine with me, Casey." Sam saluted General Hammond and the four of them left the conference room.

Teyla and Ronon decided that they would test the security measures the police and Colonel Sidney had established and Vala tagged along. Caroline took Gwendolyn under her wing and they left with Antonia to make sure that everyone was fed. The others also slowly left until only the BAU team was left in the room.

"That's the Air Force for you. They think they can just waltz in and know everything better. And then I get to calm down Garcia when this woman walks all over her last nerve," Derek Morgan said.

"I have every confidence that Colonel Carter can do what she has planned. I read her book on wormhole theory and if I had to guess I would put her IQ in a similar range than mine, probably higher," Spencer Reid, BAU's resident genius explained. "It is more probable that Penelope will rave about Colonel Carter than complain about her, and besides you don't get as many ribbons as she has by not knowing your own skills."

Morgan didn't have much to say about that and went to get himself some coffee. Hotchner smiled at his slight pouting and proposed that they should go and help Cassandra Fraiser and the ADAs to look through the databases.

-x-x-x-

It took four hours to triangulate the origin of the threatening email, including a dinner break Antonia and Caroline had insisted they take. The email had come from a small regional server out of Dodge City in Kansas. Sam easily broke the encryption code of the server and they had access to the whole communication's network of the Supremacy Alliance, including a list of members. Sam's theory that such an organization would attract men who had not cut it in the modern military was proven right. There also was enough new information to keep the BAU profilers busy throughout the night.

Vala and Ronon retired early. Their security check had only found one weak spot which had quickly been taken care of by Colonel Sidney. Teyla had arranged for Sam and her to share a room while Cassie would share with Christina.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	30. Chapter 30: Gut Feeling

**CH 30: Gut Feelings**

Sam woke from the feeling of hot air hitting the lobe of her ear and moments later she felt soft lips on her own and the tip of a tongue asking entrance. She opened her eyes and looked up into Teyla's deep brown orbs. Her eyes were smiling and Sam saw tenderness and mirth in them. Teyla tried to deepen the kiss but Sam kept her lips sealed. She was in a playful mood and didn't want to make it too easy for Teyla. Inquisitive fingers were brushing the side of her breast through the thin fabric of her sleep shirt. Oh, how she longed to feel Teyla's fingers directly on her skin. She wriggled under the touch to show her appreciation, but moments later she let out a surprised squeak. Teyla had found, no deliberately sought out the ticklish spot right under her arm.

Soon, Sam was no longer wriggling, she was squirming. Teyla of course took advantage of Sam's distraction and claimed her lips and tongue. Sam's heart skipped a beat, especially when Teyla's touch changed again. Her other hand snuck under Sam's shirt and let Sam's earlier wish come true. She gently stroked Sam's breast, circled the aureole and finally squeezed her already hard nipples. And all the time the kiss continued until there was no air left.

"You are so beautiful, Samantha. Just looking at you takes my breath away. I can't wait to return home and make love to you."

"The way you're touching me, my Teyla, you do not make it easy to wait. You make me ache, but it's a pain I willingly endure to become yours."

"As I will be yours, Samantha, and I promise it will be worth the wait. When we make love in the shaman's hut in the village, all of my people will be standing outside in a cir…" Teyla stuttered when Sam's hands pushed her shirt up and touched her breasts with the tip of her fingers, more a tease than a real touch, "…circle, holding hands and sending their energy to us. It is said that sometimes when a couple is particularly blessed they can feel the energy coming from the outside and then their making love will become a true union of body, heart and soul."

Teyla bent down and they renewed their kiss with Sam taking a more active part. She pulled Teyla down on top of her seeking more contact, and who knows if they had been able to stop had not a knock on the door cooled their ardor. Teyla reluctantly sat up and murmured something about having to drag Ronon to a sparring match, a very long sparring match.

The knocking resumed and moments later Vala stuck her head in the room, "Come on, you love birds, breakfast is waiting."

"I guess we should get up and take a shower, a cold shower," Sam said but did not move and inch. She was still touching Teyla though her hands had slipped from her breasts down to her stomach. Teyla sighed and took Sam's hands in her own. She raised them to her lips and kissed Sam's knuckles.

"You go first, Sam. Do you want to wear your uniform again?"

"Yes, it will keep Williamson off-balance. I hope."

-x-x-x-

When Judge Petrovsky finally called a recess it was Sam who was off-balance. At the last minute Alex and Abbie had decided to call Melinda in to explain some of the things the videos found in the warehouse showed. The only saving grace had been that there was no video footage about Cassandra; that would have been more than she could stand.

As it were Sam was sick to her stomach almost from the first minute and needed all of her discipline not to run from the room. A lot of the public didn't show so much restraint, and some of the jurors looked as if they would give anything to be able to join them. Sam was extremely grateful that court procedures didn't allow a witness to sit in on a trial before their testimony. Cassandra really didn't need to see the atrocities she had been subjected to and especially not those she had been spared.

What kept Sam rooted to the bench was Williamson's reaction. His cold eyes looked on the view screen and there was a cruel smile on his lips. Sam wanted to smack it off of him. Once again Alex had ordered take-out for lunch but they all were shuffling the food around instead of eating it. The knowledge that Alex had edited out the most gruesome scenes did not make it easier to watch the second half of the videos.

In the late afternoon Cassie's face appeared on the view screen and Williamson was standing over her chanting softly. She heard the sound of a door burst open, heard shots and suddenly was aware that Williamson had also recorded the rescue mission. When Sam appeared on the screen in her biker outfit Langan who also was a bit pale around the nose jumped up and objected.

"On what grounds, Mister Langan?" Judge Petrovsky asked.

"My client's arrest has already been detailed in court. To see it influences the jurors unduly."

"Sidebar, your honor, please," Abbie said.

She, Alex and Langan walked over to the judge's bench, "I admit that it might not have been entirely necessary to show the arrest but after all the gruesomeness we've seen, we wanted to show how easily the supposed male superiority of Mister Langan's client evaporated when confronted with a strong, unbound woman."

"I do not allow such shenanigans in my court room, Miss Carmichael. After what we all saw today I will cut you some slack, but under normal circumstance I would have you arrested for contempt of court. And should you doubt my resolve, ask your co-counsel." Petrovsky waved them off and said, "The objection is sustained and court is adjourned 'til tomorrow morning."

-x-x-x-

Just as the day before they were directly led to the conference room where Emily Prentiss and Jennifer Jareau were waiting to fill them in on the findings of the BAU. The rest of the team had already left for Kansas where they wanted to check out the local compounds of the Supremacy Alliance. The files Sam, Jennifer Hailey and Penelope Garcia had found and opened for the profilers had painted a dark picture of the goals and methods of the Alliance, and if even a fraction of what they had read could be verified the actions of the Alliance broke the tenants of the Constitution in more than one regard and the FBI would have reason to shut them down.

The profilers had decided that they would find out more if Emily and Jennifer, the women of the team, were not with them. Instead they would observe the trials, mainly to study the defendants' reactions.

"Oh, Colonel Carter, Penny asked if you could conference with her later. She found a file that is, I quote, locked up as tight as a chastity belt. She thinks you might be able to help her out."

"With pleasure but I'd like to take a shower first and change into something more comfortable. So, give me about an hour."

"No problem."

The encryption code protecting the file Penelope had found hidden in a picture of a woman kissing the dirty boots of a man was creative and elegant, but ultimately no match for Sam's programs. Sam's eyes widened when she read its contents and called Jennifer and Emily over to see with their own eyes. She had thought that they had struck gold the night before, but that file was the mother load. It contained detailed financial information, a list of real estate properties all over the country, including a brownstone in Manhattan, lists of donations and supporters who were not official members. It was invaluable if they not only wanted to shut the Alliance down but destroy it completely.

At dinner Sam once again played with her food, her mind miles away, "Hey, Mum, are you alright? You're not eating."

"I'm fine, kiddo, just preoccupied."

"You shouldn't have subjected yourself to those videos, Sam. You should have stayed here with me."

"It's not that, Cassie. And I have to see this trial through. It would feel as if I let him win otherwise," Sam said.

"Then what is it? You know, you need to eat to heal."

"It's that encryption code. It's bugging me. It was simple and elegant, not at all like the main encryption code I cracked yesterday. It was a different basic structure."

"What do you think that means, Colonel Carter?"

"That's what's bugging me. I know a lot of very good programmers and code specialists, but I only ever saw such a mixture of elegance and simplicity with women. I know it sounds sexist but…"

"So, you think it was a woman who wrote that code?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, but what could bring a woman with the skills to do something like that to subscribe to a philosophy that basically declares her unable to think for herself? And why would an organization like the Supremacy Alliance even accept the assistance of a woman? It does not make any sense."

"Psychologically speaking there could be a lot of reasons for that woman to help the Alliance. The most obvious being that she has no other choice. They could hold someone important to her or have threatened her life. She could be under the influence of mind altering drugs," Emily said. "She could do it out of love. She could do it because she has been brainwashed or something traumatic has happened in her life making her believe that the way of the Supremacy Alliance is preferable to what she was living before."

"Theoretically," Olivia said, "I can understand it if someone enjoys giving up control for a while, but as a way of life and to top it, a way that ultimately denies them even the capability of making decisions on their own, no, I don't get it."

The conversation got more general then. Alex and Casey brought up cases they had worked in the past. Sam added a few observations and experiences she had made on off-world missions, of course without going into too much detail, but at least some of the people at the dinner table knew that she was speaking from experience. Jennifer and Emily offered their own experiences and professional perspective. Even Cassie took part. Though they didn't get to discuss Sam's second question: Why should an organization convinced about the superiority of men recruit help from someone they consider inferior?

Cassandra dreaded going to bed. She was nervous about her court appearance the next day but she didn't want to show it. Her memories of the time as Williamson's captive were sketchy at best. There had been long periods of unconsciousness and his endless ramblings on the real place of woman in the world and the superiority of men had quickly blended one into the other, at least after she had stopped to try to argue with him.

Cassie didn't want to burden Sam with her worries and fears but her adoptive mother knew her too well. She drew small circles on the small of her back and with Olivia's help guided the conversation in another direction. Cassie relaxed marginally. When the evening drew to an end, Sam offered to share Cassie's room. Christina, her roommate from the night before, had not been present that evening and she didn't want Cassandra to be alone that night.

"That's not necessary, Mum. I'm fine. If I can't sleep I'll just do some kel'no'rem, that has never failed to relax me," Cassie said, trying to sound confident.

Sam could understand her daughter's need to be self-reliant and independent. So, she didn't push but made sure that Cassie knew that she could come to her at any time, be it to sleep or to talk or to kel'no'rem together or to simply be held.

About one hour after midnight Cassandra decided to take Sam up on her offer. She silently slipped into the room and found Sam safely cradled in Teyla's arms. The sight caused her a sharp jab of pain by reminding her of all the time she had seen Sam sleeping in her mother's arms and the other way around. Cassie took a tentative step into the room. If it had been Janet in Sam's bed she would not have hesitated to slip in with them and allow herself to be held.

The nights in New York, even on the fifteenth floor are never completely dark and so Cassie could see the expression on Sam's face by the light coming in through the window. She looked peaceful and calm, without the lines that had marked her face for so long even in sleep. Cassie was about to turn around and find herself some tea or something to do, preferably both when she became aware that at least one of the women on the bed was awake.

"Cassandra, come, join us. The bed is big enough for three," Teyla said softly.

Cassie hesitated.

"There are times, regardless of how old we get, when we need the comforting presence of a parent, of family. You do not know me well, yet, but Sam will feel that you are here. It has been a long time since my people did more than only run from the Wraith. There was a time when we were warriors, and in the past the night before a great battle family and sometimes friends would come together to give each other strength."

Cassandra didn't answer but slowly walked over and slipped under the comforter Teyla held up for her. Sam now was in the middle between Teyla and her. It didn't take Sam long to roll around a bit and drape one arm over Cassie's middle without waking up. Cassie closed her eyes and felt herself relax at the familiar touch. Sam turned again and minutes later there was a second arm flung over Sam's. The touch was not familiar but it also did not feel strange or wrong. Cassie fell asleep and all three of them slept without being bothered by nightmares.

-x-x-x-

"No questions, your honor," Trevor Langan said after Cassandra had finished her testimony.

Judge Petrovsky raised an eyebrow in surprise, but if the strategy of the defense was not to question the witnesses of the prosecution it was not her place to question it, at least not as long as she did not suspect a ploy to aim for a later dismissal at appeals. So, she banged her gavel and declared a lunch break.

-x-x-x-

In another courtroom on the same floor things were not going as smoothly. Kelles' defense attorney, a man named Francis Juniper, was challenging Casey at every turn and tried his best to discredit Olivia's testimony even before the cross started. Judge Preston finally called him to order, reminding him that he had all the time in the world to make his point during his cross examination, and he proceeded to do just that.

"Miss Benson, Miss Novak described you as a decorated police officer with many years of experience in sex crimes. Isn't it right that you received two reprimands for being a woman who is too emotionally invested in her work because you have no private life?"

"Objection, your honor. Detective Benson's qualification has already been established."

"Overruled. Mister Juniper, I advise you to reformulate your question and refrain from any speculation about Detective Benson's private life or you will be the first person ever to be arrested for contempt in my courtroom."

"So, about those reprimands, there were two, right?" Juniper asked with a smug smile.

"Since joining the New York Police Department I received two warnings, two reprimands, five commendations for actions above and beyond the call of duty and six medals. But you already knew that, Mister Juniper, didn't you?"

For the next hour Juniper again and again tried to get a rise out of Olivia by phrasing his questions as provocative as possible and just this side of insulting. Judge Preston gave him another warning he ignored and when midday came around even Lois Preston had had enough.

"Mister Juniper, you are in contempt of court. You did not heed my repeated warnings on proper behavior in my court room. You will pay a fine of two thousand dollars to the National Coalition to end Domestic Violence by the end of our lunch break. In addition you will now be escorted to a cell where you write out an affidavit stating your future compliance with court procedures and give your word as a member of the bar to stick to the facts and refrain from insulting the witnesses. If you find that you are unable to do so feel free to get your client another lawyer and make yourself comfortable in your cell, and tell your successor that there will be no continuance. Court will reconvene at three o'clock p.m., with or without you. Bailiff, please escort the defense counsel to the holding cells and make sure that he gets the chance to make necessary phone calls. Court is adjourned."

Judge Preston's declaration was the first time Carl Kelles had even looked up from the surface of the defense table. So, far he had just been sitting still, without moving and without giving any outside appearance of even hearing what was going on. Olivia knew that his calm was nothing but a façade. She had seen his clenched fits under the table when she had walked to the stand. She didn't like the expression on Kelles' face.

-x-x-x-

"He looked like he had just added Judge Preston to a mental list of things to be taken care of, Sam," Olivia explained as soon as Casey, Emily and her had reached the waiting room where they would take their lunch with Alex and the others.

"I'll call General Hammond and tell him about your concern, Liv. You said that defense lawyer's name is Juniper?"

"Yes, why?" Olivia asked.

"There was a Truman Juniper on the list of Supremacy Alliance members."

Emily already had her cell phone out and called Penelope to run a background check on Truman and Francis Juniper. She also asked her to check the jurors and cross reference them with the data they had on the Alliance.

Olivia exchanged a quick look with Casey and let her ask the obvious question, "Is there something wrong with the jurors?"

"I don't know yet. Profilers tend to be suspicious of everything, but one of the men had the same closed off expression on his face as the defendant, and the body language of one of the women is all wrong."

"The redhead in the 1950s outfit in the second row who spends all the time looking at her hands?" Olivia asked.

"Yes, her. It could be nothing, just an average housewife out of her depths, and the man could just try to distance himself from the proceedings. Penny will find out."

Sam paused in her call to General Hammond, "But you have a gut feeling, Agent Prentiss, right?"

"For want of a better word, yes, but it's not only the jury. There also were some men among the audience that would give me the creeps if I met them at night in a dark alley."

"I see. Sorry for the interruption, Sir. Will Miss Green be able to testify?"

Sam's question got Casey's attention and the others in the room listened avidly.

"Yes, I see. And, Sir, could you increase the security in Judge Preston's courtroom. There might be a few boogies in there."

"Yes, I will let them know. Thank you, Sir."

"So, Sam, care to fill us in on what's going on?" Alex asked when Sam didn't immediately share her news.

"About two hours ago Caroline Cabot found Gwen Green in a bathroom with cramps. The doctor Nick, Major Nick Farthington found for her has checked her out. She thinks its stress related. She has given her some herbal stuff to calm her down, something that will not harm the baby. She's resting now and Doctor Huang will check on her after his testimony here to make sure that she really is up to testify. But Caroline seems to think that she will be."

"I'll have a talk with her tonight, after court. If I have to I'll have you go first, Sam. We'll see."

"That's fine with me, Casey. Now, there have been some new developments. Agent Rossi is trying to infiltrate the Supremacy Alliance with Dr. Reid playing his son. They hope to get some first hand footage of what ever is going on in that compound outside of Dodge City. Agent Prentiss, Agent Jareau, you should have some preliminary reports on your laptops later that day."

The two women acknowledged Sam's words with a nod, and after a short, non-verbal communication with JJ Emily added, "Please, call us Emily and JJ."

Sam smiled at that and nodded, "Olivia, your guys have also been busy. They interviewed the neighbors of the Alliance' house here in New York who all reported that the house had always been quiet with just a couple tending to the house. They said that they mostly stayed by themselves and only reluctantly engaged in conversation. During the last three or four days, however, there has been a lot of coming and going, mostly men. Aided by one of Colonel Sidney's teams they will keep the house and its current inhabitants under observation."

"And the protection for Judge Preston?" Abbie asked.

"Judge Preston and Judge Petrovsky's guards will be doubled, but since both of them have refused an open protective detail, General Hammond chose a detail with CPO experience and trained to blend into the background. It's the best we can do as long as they are stubborn," Sam said. "So, what's on the agenda for this afternoon, Councilors?"

"Olivia and I will have to get through the rest of Juniper's cross, that is if he wises up and writes that affidavit. If not I'll have to request a recess to give Kelles' new attorney at least the night to prepare. I don't like it but it's a necessary safeguard against his case turning around and biting me on the soft side at appeals."

"You have a soft side, Novak?" Abbie quipped.

"You know what I mean, Carmichael."

Abbie made a show of studying Casey's backside. There was a wide grin on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. She let her Texan drawl come out fully, "Doesn't look soft to me, little lady. Looks real fine to me, just ma…"

Alex took two quick steps and put her hand over Abbie's mouth, "Abigail Carmichael, stop it. You're not out on the prairie any more."

"Don't be such a princess, Princess. I'm sure Novak knows how to hit back, if she'd want to."

"I never have more than one strike on me per inning, Carmichael, but Alex is right: this is not the time, nor the place."

-x-x-x-

Now that her testimony was over Cassie insisted on sitting in on the rest of the proceedings. She wanted to see Williamson sentenced to a lifetime in prison, at least. With the recent changes in the administration and the re-introduction of the death penalty in the legal landscape of New York he could very well have to face the needle.

Cassie listened only with half an ear to what George Huang had to say. Part of her attention was on Williamson who seemed mostly uninterested in the proceedings and was writing or doodling on a legal pad. The better part of her mind, however, tried to come to terms with her own feelings. Sam's hand holding her own and Teyla's close but subtle presence on her other side helped her to think.

She knew she should be relieved that this part was over and that the defense attorney had not asked any questions. Cassie knew from the preparatory sessions over the weekend that Alex and Abbie would do their best to curtail Trevor Langan's questioning, but they also had warned her that it could get ugly very quickly.

In a way she was grateful that it had not. In a way she was disappointed that it had not. Having stood up to one defense attorney would have given her the confidence she thought she needed for her other testimony.

Over they days she had been at Williamson's mercy she had become accustomed to his face and she had developed strategies to keep her fear at bay. Cassie was not so sure how she would react at having to see that other man again, the man who had made Williamson's torturous attentions almost bearable. She didn't want to freeze in court as she had in the hospital room, and not only because in court she would not have a zat'ni'kitel with which to defend herself.

She wanted to stand up for herself, and now with the defense having no questions for her, she felt robbed of an opportunity to do just that. Cassie was not sure if she would be able to do that with Carl Kelles, and deep down she was extremely grateful that all the other members of his gang had cut a deal with the DA's office that still would keep them in jail until the end of their natural life spans. If not she would have to repeat the brutal rape she had endured at their hands over and over again; and Cassie was not sure if she would be strong enough for that.

Cassandra was jostled out of her musings when she heard Alex' clear voice say, "No further questions, your honor."

Judge Petrovsky said, "Your witness, Mr. Langan."

"Thank you, your honor. I have only two questions. Doctor Huang, you have years of experience working with Manhattan's Special Victims Unit and before that years of profiling serial killers. We accept you as an expert witness. Is it your professional opinion that my client knows the difference between following and breaking the law?"

"Yes. Mister Williamson may have a unique way to define right and wrong but he was aware that what he was doing was breaking current law and he was aware that what he was doing was not conform to Christian dogma," George answered.

"So, in your opinion, my client is fully responsible for the crimes he supposedly committed?"

"Yes, he is."

"No further questions, your honor," Langan said.

Judge Petrovsky asked the prosecution to call their next witness. Abbie presented a motion to play the full length of the confession Williamson made at the 16th Precinct, and of course Langan objected.

"Your honor, my client intents to go on the stand himself. The prosecution is free to question him on cross after that. Subjecting the jury to hear the same things twice from the same perspective would not only be a waste of valuable court time but also unduly cruel to everyone involved."

"Motion denied. Call your next witness, Miss Carmichael."

Abbie and Alex exchanged a few whispered words, "We had a few more expert witnesses lined up, your honor, but now we think that the prosecution has offered sufficient proof that there can be no reasonable doubt about the defendant's guilt. The prosecution rests."

"Mister Langan, you can present your first witness tomorrow morning. Court is adjourned for today."

-x-x-x-

When Judge Preston resumed court proceedings Francis Juniper seemed to be a changed man. He had acceded to all of Preston's stipulations and even offered an apology to the judge. To Olivia it did not sound particularly sincere but formally Judge Preston had no choice but to resume the cross examination. This time Juniper didn't cross any lines, though he pushed a few, but his efforts to discredit Olivia as a witness and a police officer in the end amounted to nothing - at least if Olivia read the faces of the jurors right.

Still Juniper didn't make it easy for her and she had to keep all her wits about her. So, Olivia was relieved when he finally, after two and a half more hours of going pointlessly back and forth, declared that he was 'finished with this witness'. Judge Preston's gavel jerked as if to protest Juniper's choice of words, but she stopped herself and declared the session adjourned to the next day.

On the way to the limousine that would bring them to the Plaza Olivia asked, "So, did you have a chance to fine tune your impression of the jury and some of the audience?"

"Yes, I made note of the same men sitting in the same seats as before the lunch break, not to speak of the men positioned next to every door and observing the audience. I guess those are the SFs Colonel Carter was talking about. They were the only ones seemingly not paying attention to the trial."

"And the jury?"

"I'm still not sure about them. I noticed a subtle change in the body language of the woman, but I'm not really sure what to make of it. Hopefully Garcia found something to point us in the right direction," Emily answered.

"You are worried about your colleagues undercover in Kansas?" Olivia asked when they entered the vehicle.

"Are you an empath, Detective Benson?"

"Call me Olivia, it's only fair. And no, I'm not Deanna Troi, but I would be worried if members of my squad went undercover under similar circumstances."

"Agent Rossi is a good profiler but he's also a bit old-fashioned. He will have no problems fitting in with the Alliance. Spence… Doctor Reid… He's different. He's extremely intelligent and more sensitive than he would ever admit. His age often leads people to not take him seriously… I have no doubt that he will be able to play the role assigned to him, but…

"You are worried about what it might cost him, personally. You do not want to see him hurt by the job, at least not more than he already has been," Olivia said.

"Now that sounds like something Counselor Troi could have said to Captain Picard," Emily said with a smile.

"Doctor Reid will be fine," Olivia, "and should he get bruised he has a team on which he can rely. And no, I'm not empathic, but in my job it's mandatory to have a keen sense of observation and the ability to assess people quickly."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	31. Chapter 31: Gut Feelings Confirmed

**CH 31: Gut Feelings Confirmed**

The next morning Sam woke up early. She was cradled in Teyla's arms and she really started to get used to the feeling. It was completely different from holding or being held by Janet, and yet it felt very similar. She felt safe, protected, loved, and she didn't want the moment to end. Teyla signaled that she too was awake by putting a delicate kiss on her temple, and immediately Sam's libido kicked into overdrive.

The more nights she spent with Teyla the more difficult it became to really wait for their return to Atlantis. Personally, she had been ready to throw their plans and make love to Teyla right here and now more than once, but when she recalled every time Teyla had spoken to her about Athosian traditions and every time she had mentioned the union ritual and the gentle glow in her eyes, Sam knew that it would be worth the bother to wait.

After having spoken with Gwendolyn Green the evening before Casey had decided to give the young woman more time to cope and have Sam testify first. Sam was a bit miffed because she wanted to be there to confront and provoke Williamson with her uniform during his own testimony, but there was no way around it.

Sam was sworn in, Casey asked her questions and the defense table was suspiciously silent, no snide remarks, no objections. It was as if they were not even there.

Half way through the morning session Juniper received a note brought in by a man in an ill-fitting grey suit. After Casey had no more questions for Sam, Juniper petitioned the court for a recess 'til after the lunch break to investigate a new lead.

Once again prosecutors and some of the witnesses from the Kelles and Williamson cases met in the waiting room to have lunch together. Cassie had insisted on being there to hear what her torturer had to say and Caroline had insisted on being at her side. So, she had found herself flanked by Teyla on one and Caroline on the other side. Caroline Cabot was not Sam but her presence had still been very comforting. It had also given the press a lot of ammunition, but Alex' mother had not seemed to care.

Sam greeted her with a hug and predictably asked, "Are you alright, kiddo?"

"I'm fine, Mum. I admit that there are some things I could have gone without ever learning. I know you'll be there for me when it'll hit me over the head. Having Teyla and Caroline at my side helped, not to speak of the absolutely inconspicuous presence of Ronon Dex right behind me. So, how did it go with you?"

"Juniper seems to bide his time. He makes a lot of notes and Kelles stares at me as if he wanted to drill a hole through my eyes. So far they have not interfered in Casey's questioning. Emily still gets some bad vibes from the jury and the audience, but General Hammond has doubled the security in the room and everyone entering the courthouse has to pass through a metal detector. I don't think that even people as stupidly arrogant as the Supremacy Alliance would have the guts to try an attack in plain court," Sam said.

-x-x-x-

An hour later they all were back in the respective courtrooms, with the notable change that Ronon now was with Sam in Judge Preston's room while Olivia was with Cassie in Judge Petrovsky's courtroom. Lois Preston asked the defense to start the cross examination, and from the way Juniper phrased his questions it seemed as if he had made a complete turn around since the day before.

"Colonel Carter, I understand that you are a highly decorated officer with a bit more than twenty years of service to speak for you."

When Sam didn't react to his unasked question he continued, "Your service record, at least the parts that were not blackened out, tell a story of bravery and competence, marksmanship and extremely high ratings in hand-to-hand combat situations. So, Colonel Carter, before the fight with my clients and his friends that ultimately let to their arrest, did you warn them that even unarmed you can be considered a weapon?"

That was a question Sam, and judging from her reaction Casey, had not expected. She decided to play for time by adhering to the well-known adage that offence is the best defense, "Could you please clarify your questions, Mister Juniper? If you want to ask if I learned how to defend myself then the answer would be yes. If you want to know if I would ever use my skills to hurt someone except in self-defense, then the answer would be no. So, what is it?"

"You are a very intelligent and smart woman, Colonel Carter. What do you think the question was?"

"Objection, your honor, this is a courtroom, not a game of 'Twenty Questions'."

Before Judge Preston had a chance to say 'sustained', Juniper shouted, "Withdrawn. I'll rephrase the question. Colonel Carter, given the right circumstances, would you be able to kill someone with you bare hands?"

"Given the right circumstances everyone would be able to kill another person with their bare hands, Mister Juniper, though I admit that the training I received over the years makes that easier for me. And to preclude the next half dozen of your questions, yes, just as Detective Benson already told you, I pressed a broken pool cue against your client's throat. Yes, it would have been easy to kill him, and yes, he would have deserved it. The only reason he is still alive and sitting here looking bored is because I chose not to do it."

Now the defense attorney seemed to be at a loss. Kelles, however, jumped from his seat, grabbed the edge of the table and shouted, "You chose nothing. You stupid cunt wouldn't stand a chance in a real fight."

Two of the court orderlies had to hold Kelles back. Judge Preston called the court to order. Sam stayed on the witness' chair, outwardly calm but with every muscle primed to spring into action. She saw Ronon, the SFs and Emily doing the same. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the woman Emily had singled out slide beside and as best as she could behind the chair she had been sitting on while the other jurors were looking puzzled and appalled. It made Sam's hackles rise.

Four men from the right and the left of the aisle in the middle rushed the double doors in the back. The disguised Airman assigned to watch the room from this point had no chance against them and was knocked out. Sam unhooked her sling, ready to slip it off and fight any moment. They reached the door, opened both sides. Six more men stormed in and suddenly pandemonium erupted. Weapons were drawn, knives and short clubs. The Airmen and Marines General Hammond had assigned to guard duty in the room did their best to protect the regular audience and contain the attackers.

Kelles had fought off the orderlies and started to sprint towards the judge. Sam jumped over the barrister of the witness stand, half surprised that her dress skirt didn't cause her to fall down. She pulled it up and intercepted him. She ducked under his fist and landed a solid right hook on his solar plexus. He staggered back and pulled a knife from behind his back that had the dimensions of a Ka-bar but had obviously been made from another material than metal.

"I'll gut you like the pig you are," he said with a snarl, "and then I'm going to string you up with your own intestines."

All in all Sam counted nine or ten attackers. They were visibly surprised at the fierce resistance they encountered. The audience, it seemed, was supposed to be unsuspecting and too confused to constitute a problem. Instead they had to deal with well-trained defenders who broke their stride before they even had a chance to get a rhythm going. One of the attackers seemed to be their leader. He urged them on to attack and secure the doors.

Carl Kelles moved faster than Sam would have given him credit for after their first encounter at the 'Wizard's Wheels'. His firm but not too hard grip of the weapon also showed a certain degree of competence but not enough to constitute a threat. She had avoided his first two slashes by simply stepping back but Sam knew that this way she would quickly run out of space and end with her back against the judge's bench. So, she decided that a counter attack was in order.

Sam feinted left and instead of going right as Kelles had expected she darted forward. Using the opening his misjudgment gave her she got into his personal space. Her regulation heel rammed hard against the inside of his left knee. She heard a satisfying crack and his cry of pain. Simultaneously she triggered a pressure point at his wrist with a karate jab. He dropped the knife. Sam followed up with a step back and a round house kick to his chest that sent him to the floor.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Ronon fighting two attackers while Casey was wielding something that looked suspiciously like the leg of a chair. Sam felt someone coming up to her from the side. She whirled around, ready to defend herself when Francis Juniper was hit by the tendrils of a stun gun shot by non other than Judge Lois Preston.

"Thank you, Judge."

"You're welcome, Colonel. Look out!"

The warning came too late. Kelles had gotten back on his feet and barreled into her from the side. They both went flying to the floor. Sam was able to flip them around before they crashed. They landed on the side instead of Kelles landing on top of her. Sam couldn't suppress a cry of pain landing on her injured shoulder.

Kelles used her distraction to pin her down but Sam was not an easy prey. She let herself go completely limp and feinted unconsciousness. Kelles raised his hand and slapped her.

He shouted, "Look at me when I tear you apart, bitch."

Sam didn't react. He grabbed the ribbons on her chest and ripped them off, "A worthless cunt like you does not deserve those."

Sam still didn't react. This was not the moment for a verbal confrontation. It called for action. He slapped her again, hard enough to let her whole upper body jerk to the side. She exaggerated the effect of his hit to reach the knife. When he let go with a third slap she moved the knife in the arch of his swing and he rammed his palm through his own blade. Kelles howled in pain and instinctively grabbed his injured limb. That forced him to change his centre of gravity and allowed Sam to push him off of her.

A hard jab to his chin made him stay down. Sam got back on her feet and surveyed the room. Ronon was just finishing off the last of their attackers still standing. Uniformed officers were pouring in from the main entrance, taking over the prisoners from the defenders. Innocent bystanders were looking dazed and confused, but, Sam thought, luckily none of them seemed to have been hurt. With the exception of the woman who had hidden under the chair the members of the jury seemed frozen on their seats. In her preoccupation Sam had missed how Ronon had ordered them to stay put and not to move a muscle.

Sam's gaze wandered over to the defense table. One of the orderlies was trying to stop the bleeding from the stomach wound of his colleague. Sam saw Kelles knocking the orderly out. He grabbed the man's gun. And suddenly time stood still and all the noise in the room from their attackers being mirandized and people asking if their neighbors were alright and Lois Preston banging her gavel with the other hand still holding the stun gun were gone. Kelles raised the gun and pointed it at her. Sam threw the knife, and ducked out of the way.

Her hearing returned with the sound of a shot ringing out. Kelles sank to the floor. For a moment Sam stared at him. She had aimed at his shoulder, right at the joint where it would do the most damage without killing him, but the weapon was buried in his heart. His eyes were vacant when she walked passed him to check on the orderlies.

The stomach wound was still bleeding and Sam used her ruined jacket to try to stop it. She called for a medic. Deep down she longed to just put her hand on the gaping knife wound and heal him but with this many people around it was just too risky. She, however, allowed herself to check him out. The man had been extremely lucky; no major organs had been pierced. The paramedics came in through the door to the judge's chambers and took over.

At Sam's hand signal Ronon let go of a loud and potentially ear drum piercing whistle that got everyone's attention.

"Attention, please!" Sam said, "Everyone who is uninjured will now be escorted to a secure location where police officers will take care of you and your testimony will be taken. If you have been injured in any way, please stay here for a few moments longer and the EMT will tend to you."

One of the jurors protested that he wanted the hell to know what had just happened and Judge Preston answered that they all would be informed as soon as possible.

She said, "You will be told right after I have found out who dared to turn my courtroom into a gladiator ring, and what they wanted in the first place. I'm just as keen to have my questions answered as you are. If you would follow me now; there's a conference room right next to my chambers."

Sam ordered three of the undercover SFs to accompany them and make sure that all was clear. The EMTs had stabilized the orderly and were carrying him off while another team checked on the prisoners before they were escorted first to the holding cells and then to central booking.

Emily walked over to Sam and asked, "Are you alright?"

"That certainly is not the way how I wanted this trial to end, but apart from that and a sore jaw I'm fine. Are you alright, Emily?"

"I'll need a new blouse. It ripped when one of them tried to grab me," she answered.

"And I'll need a new dress uniform. This one is about ruined."

"Well, here's the first part," Casey said and handed her the ribbons she had picked up.

"Thank you, Casey. Major Parks," Sam called over to the highest ranking officer of Colonel Sidney's squad. "Please, thank your men for their good work. I hope none of them got hurt."

"Thank you, Colonel Carter. A few of my men might have some bruises but they get worse in most sparring sessions. You made it easy for us by the way you took this bastard down. It distracted them so much most of them didn't even see us taking them down, and it gave us a good show," Major Parks, a tall Marine with a crew cut said.

"I'm glad I could contribute to your entertainment, Major. Please make sure that the Judge and the rest of the civilians are guarded well. I do not think that there will be another attempt at whatever they were trying to accomplish but better safe than sorry. Let me know as soon as Juniper and the leader of our attackers are ready to be interviewed. I want to listen in. I'll call General Hammond and apprise him of the situation. He will contact Colonel Sidney."

"Yes, ma'am. I already took the liberty to send a few of my men down with the prisoners to make sure that they don't get lost in transit. I also recommend that you talk to the commanding police officer present. From what I heard they had started to evacuate this floor, a now unnecessary precaution."

"I'll go over to Judge Petrovsky's court room. Please send whoever is responsible here over there. An evacuation will not be necessary. Oh, and leave one of your men here. I have a feeling that there's someone else here who needs protection from those men. Emily, do you think you can coax her out. I have a feeling she's just as much a victim of the Supremacy Alliance as they wanted us to become."

"I'll take care of her, Sam. Go and make sure that Cassandra Fraiser is alright."

-x-x-x-

When she rounded the corridor to Judge Petrovsky's courtroom Sam walked right into a commotion of police officers trying to get people to leave, Teyla and two of SGC's Marines standing in a defensive position in front of Cassie, Caroline, Abbie and Alex, two officers with their hands on Williamson's elbows next to the witness stand, making sure that he stayed put, Trevor Langan looking confused and the jurors puzzled and slightly scared.

Sam once again signaled Ronon and he brought the assembly to silence with his piercing whistle. Before she had a chance to say something a familiar voice called from the other side, "Sam, Sam, let us through, that's my sister over there."

"Mark, what are you doing here? Officer, please let them pass. He is my brother," Sam said to the nearest officer. She smiled at Cassie to let her know that she was alright and then addressed the others, "Attention, please. Listen to me. There is no more danger to anyone on this floor or in this building. There was a riot in courtroom three-o-eight which could quickly be quelled, thanks to the immediate actions of security personnel on site. The Police Commissioner and the District Attorney will release more detailed information later that day."

Judge Petrovsky banged her gavel and all eyes turned to her, "Attention everyone, this court is in recess until tomorrow morning. It will give the authorities time to assess if whatever happened in courtroom three-o-eight has any connection or bearing for this case and give us all the time necessary to calm down enough to return here with our heads in the game Monday morning."

After that the room slowly cleared and Cassie hurried over as fast as her crutches allowed and pulled Sam in her arms, "Are you alright, Mum?"

"I'm fine, Cassie. It's not my blood. Go on ahead with the others to the conference room. I have to call General Hammond but I promise I'll fill you in soon. You too, Mark, go with Cassie. You as well, Judge Petrovsky, if you would."

"I'd like to check on Judge Preston first," Lena Petrovsky said.

"Judge Preston was not harmed, your honor. In fact, she saved me from a few bruises when she shot the defense attorney with a stun gun. Judge Preston is in the conference room next to her courtroom trying to calm down the jury and the other civilians," Sam said.

"Sounds like something Lois would do. Go and make your call, Colonel Carter. Here," Lena Petrovsky handed Sam a key, "you can use my chambers for some privacy."

"Thank you, your honor."

-x-x-x-

Sam entered the conference room twenty minutes later. Her eyes instinctively searched for Teyla. She was standing at the head of the table, talking with Ronon, but turned around and smiled when she saw Sam. Cassie, Caroline, Alex and Olivia were standing more to the middle with Mark's family while Mark was pacing in the back of the room. Sam was surprised to see the Judges Preston and Petrovsky sitting at the table, chatting.

Sam had cleaned herself up as best as possible. She had lost a few hairpins during the fight and put her long tresses in a ponytail, but there still were blood stains from the orderly on her dress shirt.

"I apologize for the delay. If you would all take a seat and I'll let you know what happened," Sam said and walked over to Teyla. They embraced for a moment and Teyla unobtrusively put a soft kiss on Sam's cheek - and Sam didn't care if anyone saw it.

Sam sat down and recounted the events in courtroom three-o-eight. Lois Preston interrupted her when she tried to make light of her own contribution to the fight. During her report she observed the reaction of the people at the table. Diane and Mark's children looked at her with slowly widening eyes. Olivia and Alex kept their expression carefully neutral; so did Judges Preston and Petrovsky. She didn't quite know what to make of Cassie's expression but knowing her daughter well she guessed that Cassandra felt a mixture of relief that it was over and anger that she now would never again get a chance to confront Carl Kelles.

When she was finished Judge Preston asked, "Do we have any idea yet what they wanted? I'm not any kind of expert but their attack did not seem to be well coordinated. What was their objective?"

"I can only speculate at this point. The men the police arrested have yet to be identified. They obviously had not expected any resistance and thought that they could isolate the room and overpower the orderlies and the bailiff using the element of surprise. Putting myself in their shoes I suspect that they wanted to kidnap Miss Novak, Judge Preston and myself, probably to teach us a lesson about the real place of women in God's World. I guess that they had planned to leave through the judge's chambers. I also think that the whole thing was organized at short notice. Originally Miss Gwen Green should have testified today. That would have given them the whole weekend to prepare more thoroughly. There also might be a connection to the Williamson case."

"I admit that this sounds suspiciously like something Williamson could say or do, but do you have any proof?" Judge Petrovsky asked.

"So far, no. Captain Cragen and General Hammond work with the BAU to find the proof we'll need. They will also investigate a possible connection between those men and Addison Williamson. What I told you so far is solely based on what I saw of their attack pattern, or rather how they tried to improvise when unexpectedly faced with resistance. We can, however, make an educated guess on who may be behind the attack. Agent Jareau, would you?"

"Of course, Colonel Carter. For those of you who do not know me yet; my name is Jennifer Jareau and I work as a press liaison for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. A few days ago CNN received…."

Sam fell in what Daniel once had dubbed debriefing daydreams, a state of mind where you still follow what is being said and can participate if at all necessary but during which the better part of the higher brain function is free to do something else. This time Sam didn't solve complex equations in her head as she usually did, this time she tried to anticipate what would happen next with the Williamson trial, her statement concerning the attack, and she speculated what could have happened that had brought not only her brother but his whole family to New York. Thomas and Elizabeth should be at school.

A few minutes into JJ's explanation Sam's cell phone rang. It was General Hammond giving her a head's up and requesting Olivia's assistance in an unrelated case. She whispered Captain Cragen's orders to Olivia and retook her seat next to Teyla while Olivia left the room. Teyla put her hand on Sam's knee, pushing up the rim of her skirt. It made her feel safe and she put one of her hands on top of Teyla's. It was the only way she knew of to show Teyla how much she was appreciating the gesture. Cassie smiled at her and suddenly, listening to JJ was no longer as difficult as it had been before.

As soon as Jennifer had finished Sam said, "There are some more news. General Hammond just let me know that Miss Garcia, the technical analyst of the BAU, has started to cross reference the ID of today's attackers with the member and sympathizer lists we found on the Supremacy Alliance. Including Francis Juniper there have been made eleven arrests for public disturbance and assault, pending some other charges. Six of them are members of the Supremacy Alliance. We already know that Juniper's older brother is one of the founding members, and Miss Garcia is looking for more connections between the assault team and the Alliance. Unfortunately our assailants have all lawyered up, except for Juniper but he is still recovering from Judge Preston stun gun. So far our best chances to get anyone to talk are with one of the jury members, a woman. Agent Prentiss of the BAU is currently trying to get her to talk."

"The membership of some of the perps in an extremist organization should be enough to get a search warrant for the house in New York," Judge Petrovsky said.

"That might be a bit premature, your honor," Abbie said. "Judging from what I've heard so far and what I read last night about the Supremacy Alliance there is a real danger that left unchecked they could constitute a real problem one day. From where we all stand it's easy to laugh them off, to think that their misogynistic attitude is a thing of the past, but we shouldn't underestimate them. If they act according to what they call the 'true, god-given constitution' they already are in violation of human and civil rights. If it were up to me I would try to take them all out in one sweep."

"The Supremacy Alliance house in Manhattan is under constant surveillance. Their headquarters in Kansas as well and as we speak other Alliance properties are investigated by local FBI offices," Sam said. "The US Attorney General is aware of the situation and awaits more information to brief President Hayes. For now, all we can do is to wait and if possible gather more information. News about the attack in the courtroom have already spread as had to be expected. The Police Commissioner and District Attorney Branch will give a short press statement, but they will not mention the Supremacy Alliance."

"So, we can return to the Hamptons for the weekend?" Caroline asked.

"I didn't ask, Mrs. Cabot," Sam answered. "But I guess that General Hammond deems the Estate too vulnerable."

"Then let's call him. If it's a question of personnel I'm sure that we can get reinforcement from the East Hampton Police Department."

Five minutes later, General Hammond had succumbed to the Cabot Factor and started to organize secure transportation and appropriate coverage at the Estate. Caroline called Antonia who had been staying with Gwen at the Plaza to warn her of the impeding influx of more guests and give her a chance to get a head's up on groceries and other necessities.

While they waited to be picked up Sam greeted Mark's family with Teyla at her side. Mark joined them and Sam introduced Teyla as her fiancée. Tommy and Beth grinned and Diane hugged Teyla. Mark's eyes widened to the size of saucer's but instead of the angry outburst Sam had expected he managed to congratulate them. It didn't sound really convincing but it was a start.

Sam cut right to the chase, "I have to admit seeing you all in the courtroom earlier was as big a surprise as getting that phone call from you last week, Mark. So, what's up?"

"That suitcase Dad gave me, I found something. I showed it to Diane and she said that the children also had a right to know. We talked about it and here we are," Mark said. "It's a long story, and the whole family should hear it, Olivia should hear it as well."

"Olivia has been called to a case. I have no idea when she'll be finished. So, it would be the best order of business if you'd come with us. It has to be important for all of you to cross the whole country just to talk to me and Olivia in person."

Judges Preston and Petrovsky decided that this would be good moment to leave but they didn't get past the Marine guards stationed outside of the door. Caroline joined them at the door and since they both knew her well it didn't take long to convince them.

"Fine, but I'll have to get my overnight bag from my chambers before we go," Lena Petrovsky said.

"So do I."

Caroline was surprised, "I know Lena likes to be prepared for anything but I didn't know that you subscribed to the same philosophy, Lois."

"Usually I don't. Usually I also don't keep a stun gun in my courtroom. Let's just say that I had a gut feeling."

-x-x-x-

SGC personnel had packed up their belongings at the Plaza and they were put in Caroline's limousine and three other cars. Sam and Cassie used the trip in a Hammer with dark-tinted windows to catch up with Thomas and Elizabeth and the more they talked the more confused Mark became. Listening to his estranged sister he learned more about his children than he usually would have in months.

After about half an hour he finally burst out, "But you had been expressly forbidden to contact Sam or Cassandra."

Diane patted Mark's thigh in a calming gesture and said, "No, sweetheart, you only told them not to call Sam. And we're living in the twenty-first Century, Mark, there's email and instant messaging and web cameras. There even would have been the good old-fashioned snail-mail."

"How long has this been going on?" He asked, and his voice sounded more defeated than angry.

"Since you took it upon yourself to make your children's decisions, and just for the record, Sam and I are also in contact, not as regularly as Cassie, Tommy and Beth, but…" Diane said.

"You were a big help after Janet died, Diane. I never thanked you for that," Sam said.

"There's no need to thank me, Sam. That's what family is for. I'm just glad that you no longer hide behind Janet's ghost."

Sam squeezed Teyla's hand, "Janet will always be a part of me, Diane. I will always love her, but Teyla helped me to understand that my love for Janet does not preclude my love for Teyla. I have been given a second chance and I intend to make the best of it."

Teyla stretched a bit and gave Sam a gentle kiss on the cheek, "I am the one who has been given a second chance, Samantha."

Mark gasped at the intimately comforting gesture. He stared at them with something akin to stupefaction on his face. Comfortable silence descended on the car and after a while he said, "I'm such an idiot, Sam. Can you ever forgive me for not seeing the truth? Dad was really right, you got all the brains in the family. How could I have been so blind?"

"Father was not right, Mark. Yes, you can be a jerk and a moron, and I will not tell you that what you said and did, did not hurt. It did, but you are not stupid. It took me a long time and Janet's and Cassie's love to understand that a lot of the things he wanted us to believe were wrong. You count among the top ten orthopedic surgeons in California, and one does not become that by being stupid."

Would it have been possible Mark's eyes would have gotten even wider at Sam's unexpected words. It took him a few heartbeats to regain his composure, "And speaking of that. I can see that you're favoring your arm, and I heard that you were shot, shouldn't you be wearing a sling?"

"I did, before the fight. It keeps getting in the way. Yes, I was shot, but it's healing well," Sam answered.

"Would you let me have a look at you shoulder and the x-rays later?"

Sam was about to refuse when she saw the half hopeful, half scared expression on her brother's face, "I'm a fast healer, Mark, but if it makes you happy, you can check me out after I had a shower."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	32. Chapter 32: Family Affairs

**CH 32: Family Affairs**

It took a while to get everyone settled. As big as the house was, with adding the two BAU agents, Gwen Green, the two judges and Sam's family to the mix as well as the small blonde Sam had introduced as Captain Jennifer Hailey not everyone could get their own room. Some pairings came almost automatically: Alex and Olivia, Mark and Diane, Sam and Teyla, Vala and Ronon, Jennifer Jareau and Emily Prentiss, Abbie and Casey. That left Gwen Green, Thomas and Elizabeth Carter, Judge Preston and Judge Petrovsky, Captain Hailey and Cassandra.

As soon as Thomas and Elizabeth had been shown the meditation room they almost begged to be allowed to spend the night there. Diane and Mark at first were less than thrilled. They wanted their children to sleep in a bed, but Sam reminded her brother of the few camping trips they had had as a family years ago and how he had loved to leave camp at night to sleep on his own, staring up at the stars and seeing patterns no one else would ever find.

Antonia offered Gwendolyn the small guest room in her cottage in the back of the property, and Cassie offered the other bed in her room to Jennifer Hailey. That way Judges Preston and Petrovsky had their own rooms with another two to spare for surprise visitors.

The primary organizational needs being taken care of Antonia asked for two volunteers to help her in the kitchen with a 'simple' dinner; Alex, Gwen and Diane volunteered. Cassie led Tommy, Beth and Mark who followed them like a silent but unthreatening shadow to the stables to show them the newborn where Mark regaled them to his children's surprise with a couple of stories about the first time he had ever been put on the back of a horse.

"So, what happened the first time grandfather sat Sam on a horse?" Beth asked.

"He didn't. My memories don't go that far back but I remember her walking, toddling between the legs of the horses. She must have been about a year old. Sam was always special. She was inquisitive and fearless. A few years later, I must have been around ten years old, Dad took me to the stables to prepare for a daylong trip. We found Sam sitting on the back of a stallion no one but the stable master ever even tried to approach, stroking his mane and telling him how much fun it would be to just ride off. Dad was ballistic. He stormed over and spooked the horse.

"Just like I don't know how she got on the back of that stallion, and he was at least eighteen hands tall, I still don't know how she managed not to get thrown off. I'm not sure if she saw me or Dad, but I know that even with that seemingly untamable horse bucking under her, she had fun. Dad finally got close enough to get a hold around her waist and pull her off. She looked at him as if he had just pulled her off a roller coaster in the middle of the thrilling ride," Mark said with unmistakable nostalgia in his voice.

"Do you remember what happened then, Mark?" Sam asked from a few feet away.

Mark turned around and studied Sam's body language. The way she was leaning against one of the stall posts reminded him of a much younger Sam, one full of awkwardness and confusion. Her voice, however, was different though he could not clearly define what exactly seemed different.

"I remember being relieved that I would not have to sit in a saddle the whole day but apart from that, no. I don't remember."

"I do, at least part of it," Sam said.

"Please tell us, Aunt Sam," Beth demanded.

What Sam had said had slipped and for a moment she debated with herself if she really wanted to mar the probably positive image Mark's children had of their grandfather.

"Please, Aunt Sam, we have to know the truth," Tommy said.

"Alright, I'll tell you what I remember, but you have to keep in mind that those are the memories of a five year old child. Over the years and with a maturing mind I might have added to it," Sam said.

"Please, Sam, I too want to know. All I remember is that I did not see you for the rest of the day," Mark said.

"I remember father's arm closing around my middle and I remember almost flying through the air. It was exhilarating and I never wanted it to end. But then he put me on the floor and dragged me out of the stables by my arm. He pulled me over to the barn where they kept the horse feed and the hay and the buggies and the tack. He took some sort of leather strip from a hook on the wall and pulled me over his knees face first. I had no idea what was going to happen. I remember that I cried out when that strap hit me. It hit again and I cried again, and soon I didn't stop crying. The next thing I remember was waking up in Mum's arms," Sam said with next to no emotion in her voice.

Suddenly Mark was standing right in front of her. Tears were running down his face, "I'm sorry, Sam. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Mark. The worst part was that he didn't say a word. He didn't tell what I had done wrong or that he was terrified when he saw me on the back of that horse."

"I should have protected you, Sam. I'm the older one. I should have protected you, and I should have known better. We drove back home the next day, and I was so proud because I was allowed to sit in the passenger seat next to Dad. You and Mom were in the back, and all the time you were lying on your side with your head on her lap. I should have protected you, then and later."

"Mark, don't do this to yourself. You didn't know and you were a kid. And after that Mum always was there to talk some sense into him," Sam said. "He never touched me again."

"Yes, he did, maybe not with a strap or with his hand, but he hit you with his words and I was stupid enough to follow in his footsteps. I'm such an idiot, and I could understand if you'll never forgive me, Sam."

Sam raised her hand to Mark's cheek and looked him in the eyes. She didn't say anything until he made visual contact, "You are not an idiot, Mark."

She closed her arms around him and held him while his tears began to flow freely. After a short exchange of glances Cassandra, Thomas and Elizabeth quietly left the siblings alone. They never had seen their father this openly vulnerable, not even after he had told them what he had learned from Sam and what he had found in that suitcase. It was a strange feeling for them, but as soon as he had calmed down sufficiently it also was feeling strangely right.

He pushed himself back and said, "I'm sorry that I was jealous of you, Sam. We would have been so much better off if we had been allies instead of rivals, just like Mom always wanted."

"It's water under the bridge, Mac. The stables of the future mother-in-law of our half-sister may not be the ideal place, but there could be worse to try anew," Sam said.

"Why are you so forgiving, Sam?"

"One of the side effects of my job is that every once in while you get the chance to re-evaluate your life and I learned that it does not pay to hold too many grudges. We all made mistakes, Mac. But that's not the real reason, the real reason is that I don't want to end up like Jacob Carter. He came to me before he died. I have access to experimental medicine and he thought that I would know how to heal him. There was nothing I could do. He died accusing me that I would let him suffer deliberately to get back at him. I don't want to end like that."

This time it was Mark who took his sister in his arms and since he felt the need to say something he remarked, "Do you know that no one has called me Mac since I left home after Mom's funeral?"

"How could they? We both don't use our middle names, but if you need a reminder I can give you the full name treatment, Mark Anthony Carter," Sam said with a genuine smile.

"Don't you dare, Samantha Elizabeth Carter. Those kids of mine don't need any more ammunition."

-x-x-x-

Sam and Mark talked a bit more and then Sam remembered that she initially had come over to the stables to tell Cassie and the others that dinner was just about ready. The others had waited for them and to make it up Sam offered their help for the clean-up.

They were just about finished with filling the dishwasher when Jennifer Hailey asked Sam to come over to the library because Penny Garcia needed her help to decrypt another file she had found per chance in a picture file among the Supremacy Alliance data. Mark followed them because he wanted to see his sister's mind at work. It took Sam about twenty minutes to crack the code.

"I'll be damned," she said without turning her face from the screen. "Captain Hailey, please get a hold of Agent Jareau and Miss Carmichael. There is something they have to see."

As she could have expected, JJ and Abbie were not alone. It looked as if almost the whole household had followed her summons.

"What's going on, Sam?" Abbie asked.

"Just a moment, Abbie, I asked Penny to establish a secure line to Agent Hotchner."

"I'm here, Colonel Carter, how can I help you?" Aaron Hotchner asked.

"Miss Garcia found another encrypted file with an even more elegantly sophisticated encryption code. It's a letter of sorts. It's not signed but whoever wrote it was afraid. The author says that he or she has to act quickly before they lose themselves completely and become what they want them to be. The letter then details the pictures that hold more of those files. Every single one of them contains confidential data the leaders of the Supremacy Alliance deemed too dangerous or too incriminating to have on any kind of computer. It also gives GPS coordinates on where to find a hardcopy of the material. I just looked it up, it's close to where you are at the moment, Agent Hotchner, a farmhouse just outside of Garden City. I propose that you and your team check it out discretely."

"Garcia just sent a copy of what you're reading. It's still encrypted," Hotchner said.

"That's just a simple substitution code, Agent Hotchner, more child's play than anything else. Take the first six letters: k - y - t - k - v - g, now go two places back in the alphabet and you'll get 'I write'. With a bit of practice one does not even have to think about it anymore. But that's not point. The point is that the farmhouse is not on the list of Alliance properties we found. Therefore we have to work on the assumption that they are bigger and better organized than we thought, and it's imperative that we find all of the other hidden files before you and Washington decide on acting against the Supremacy Alliance," Sam said.

"I agree, Colonel Carter, but getting the man power to look through even the pictures listed in this letter will be a problem. It took one of the other tech analysts the whole day to find even this single file."

"He checked manually, right?"

"As far as I know yes, but you would have to ask Garcia about it. Is there a faster way?" Hotchner asked.

"There might be. Let me give it some thought. I'll let Penny know as soon as we've come up with something.

"My real concern is for the person who wrote this letter. The picture was uploaded two days ago. The file in the other picture is three months older; it is also not on the list provided in the letter. Whoever wrote this is running out of time, and we might as well.

"I know that you can't act as long as there is not more evidence, and that means finding and analyzing those hidden files. Could you try to talk your superiors into preparing all the paperwork they'll need before hand. That way you could act as soon as you get the information. I'm aware that this might be a hard sell, but I'm also sure that time is of the essence.

"By now the leaders of the Supremacy Alliance already know about the failed kidnapping attempt. They also must realize that after their threat they are liable to get under close scrutiny, and I don't think that they are dumb enough not to try and cover their tracks which in turn puts your undercover agents at risk."

"I see your point and I share your concerns, Colonel Carter. I'll add your recommendation to my own. But who told you that it really was an attempted abduction? We got that information only five minutes ago from Captain Cragen. It seems that the lawyer, Francis Juniper is ready to talk."

"No one told me. It was a logical deduction based on their attack pattern, but thank you for confirming my suspicions. Did he say anything else?"

"As far as I know he's still talking but I'm sure that Captain Cragen will fill you all in as soon as he's done. I'll let you get back in contact with Garcia now. I won't even try to figure out how you do your computer wizardry, but don't forget to grab some sleep. And Colonel Carter, thank you for everything you've done. It's not exactly in your job description, and instead of getting the chance to recover from the trauma you and your daughter recently lived through, you're dragged into another mess."

"If you ask any of my superior officer they would tell you that trouble has a tendency to come looking for me, but they would also tell you that I have a tendency to come out on top", Sam said with a disarming smile.

-x-x-x-

Sam's parting words with Agent Hotchner and a short two sentence conversation with Penelope Garcia went unnoticed by the others because the door opened and four more people stepped in, General Hammond, Emily Prentiss, Olivia and the female juror who had been hiding behind her chair.

Alex took one look at Olivia and whisked her out of the room before anyone had a chance to say anything. She led her upstairs and through their bedroom into the bathroom. Olivia allowed herself to be undressed as if she were not really there and stayed still while Alex quickly slipped out of her own clothes, letting them negligently fall on the floor tiles.

Most other people would have defined Olivia's expression as calm and composed. Alex saw barely contained anguish. Three and a half years ago she would have been sure how Olivia would react and what she would need, but after all this time she no longer was completely sure. The tension in her lover's body told Alex that Olivia was still poised between fight, flight and surrender. When Olivia allowed herself to be pushed under the warm spray of the shower, Alex breathed an internal sigh of relief. It let her hope that Olivia would really accept the comfort she offered.

Before Olivia had let Alex in she had had two ways of dealing with especially traumatic cases, she had either spent hours up hours in the gym or she had shut everyone out and would sit alone on her couch, a glass of hard liquor in front of her and would have stared at it for hours without ever even trying to take a single sip. With Alex in her life that had changed. Alex had had to be very persistent but step by step Olivia had let her in.

They stood under the spray facing each other and Alex gradually raised the temperature until the water was just this side of scalding. Olivia's gaze was focused on a point somewhere over and behind Alex' left shoulder.

"Please, look at me, my love," she said softly and waited until Olivia made visual contact. "I love you, my Liv, my life."

Olivia closed the few inches of distance that had remained between them, and the moment Alex' arms encircled her Olivia started to cry, silently as she always did. Alex didn't try to soothe her with words; she just held her and waited patiently for the tension in Olivia's body to lessen.

Their bodies were still as attuned to each other as three and a half years ago. Alex felt every tear Olivia shed, but she also felt how she slowly but surely started to relax and the tension in her body was washed away with the hot water. Alex started to reduce the temperature as soon as she felt Olivia's chin rest on her shoulder. She soon would be able to lead Olivia out of the bathroom, get her in bed, snuggled in her arms, and hopefully get her to talk.

Alex soaped up the loofah an began to wash Olivia's back in slowly widening circles. Her touch was gentle and steady, a reminder that there was someone who cared for Olivia, for all of Olivia, the tough detective, the devoted friend, the possessive, passionate lover and the woman whose soul was bruised by her own past and the atrocities she had to see almost every day at work, the woman who cared too much. When Olivia's arms closed around her and started to mimic her own movements just without the sea sponge, Alex knew that Olivia would be alright. What she needed now was something life affirming.

A couple of minutes later Olivia kissed her, gently at first…

-x-x-x-

Nobody but Caroline and Sam saw Alex and Olivia's retreat. Sam had also seen the, at least from her perspective, barely concealed anguish and pain in her sister's eyes. After one or the other off-world mission gone wrong Sam could have seen the same expression in her own eyes, and then Janet had been the only one she had trusted enough to chase the darkness and pain away.

General Hammond was surprised to see Mark and his family, and he was even more surprised when Mark Carter pulled him in a quick hug. Tommy and Beth stared with wide eyes at the man of whom they had heard so much, from Sam and Cassie. The ice was broken when Cassie came over and George Hammond pulled her into a bear hug.

The respective introduction took another few minutes. Gwen offered to share her room in Antonia's cottage with the female juror who had come with Emily. Her name was Meredith Killy. Sam didn't get much of chance to assess her because Antonia let her and Gwen away after only a few minutes. General Hammond would stay in the main house.

While the sleeping accommodations were rearranged Sam spoke to Jennifer Hailey and Abbie, "Abbie, do you think you could get your boss to get a jump on the paperwork even before we have all the evidence?"

"Tonight? No. However, if I call him tomorrow morning, even with the evidence we have now, I'm confident that I'll get him to get the machine of the bureaucracy rolling. More evidence would make it easier, of course."

"We'll do our best, Abbie. Now, for that file search…" Sam said and turned her attention to Jennifer Hailey. "Hailey, do you remember that defrag program you wrote about two years ago? A modified version might be able to make our search for those files easier. Do you think you can do that?"

For a moment Jennifer stared at Sam with wide eyes. Then a smile spread over her face, "Yes, ma'am, I think so. It should be just a question of fine-tuning the original program and deactivating the option to rearrange the pixels. If it works we would be able to cut down the processing time per picture from more than half a day to about half an hour."

"Get to it, Captain Hailey."

-x-x-x-

In the forty-five minutes it took Jennifer to write the analytical program Sam organized the hardware they would need, in other words: she hunted for PCs and laptops with the processing speed and free memory the program would need and organized teams that would work in shifts. There were two hundred and thirty-seven pictures on the Supremacy Alliance websites and all of them had to be checked though Sam planned to give the ones identified in the letter priority.

Only four laptops met Sam's requirement, including her own. She interlinked them for easier data transfer. That made for three teams: Abbie and Casey, Emily and JJ, Diane and Jennifer. Cassie and Mark's children were disappointed that they could not take part in the collective effort but Caroline quickly recruited them to help prepare the bedrooms. General Hammond and the two judges retired to one of the offices to let Captain Cragen know about the new developments and get news on what else Francis Juniper had in the meantime told the detectives.

Teyla had refused to leave Sam's side and as evening turned into night she fell asleep on the couch. Sam looked up from her screen long enough to pull a blanket over her and give her a tender kiss on the forehead. Jennifer's program checked the pixel density of the image files just like a defragmentation program checks the internal structure of a drive, depending on the size and resolution it took between ten and twenty minutes to check one image file. It had the downside that the program had to be paused manually to identify the placement of the hidden file in the picture. Newfound files were sent to Sam who decrypted them and sent them on to Garcia for further processing after having skimmed over their content. She also built a database with an icon of the picture, the file ID, keywords about the contents of the file, the date the file had been created and the date the picture had been uploaded.

Early Saturday morning Sam sent the last file to Washington and attached her statistic file. She stretched and it felt as if every single one of her vertebras were about to crack irreparably. The others had fallen asleep one after the other, starting with Diane Carter. Emily was the only one still sitting behind her keyboard but she looked about ready to drop.

Teyla opened her eyes the moment Sam started to move. She looked sleep-dazed and slightly confused, and Sam felt the strong urge to kiss her senseless, the picture she made was this adorable. And then Teyla smiled and Sam no longer would have cared if they had been standing in the middle of Times Square instead of the living room of Caroline Cabot. The pain in her shoulder, the crick in her neck, her aching muscles, the deranged and horrible things she had read in those files, everything faded in the background when her lips touched Teyla's and she melted in her arms.

Their kiss ended a bit prematurely by the almost imperceptible sound of a picture being taken followed by the louder sound of the door being opened. It was Caroline with Cassandra right behind her.

"It's time to go to bed," Caroline said, "and no, I don't want to hear that you have just one more hour of work to do. You all will work better after a few hours of rest. Give those lesser mortals in Washington the time to catch up with you."

Sam smiled at Caroline's evident concern, "We did it, Caroline. I sent the last file only a few minutes ago, and believe it or not, a bed is just what I need now. We should wake the others."

Caroline nodded, looked around and decided to start with Abbie and Casey. Sam, however, did not move. She didn't want to leave Teyla's arms, until she saw how tired Cassie looked.

Sam walked over and pulled the young woman in an embrace, "Are you alright, kiddo?"

"Gwen and I talked most of the night. She's asleep now."

"Come with us, Cass. We'll hold you."

"I'm not a child any more, Mum. I can deal on my own," Cassie protested.

"I never doubted that, Cass, but you don't have to deal on your own, and at the moment I need my two favorite women right at my side," Sam said.

"Bad news?" Cassie asked.

"They could be if they ever got the chance to do a tenth of the stuff we found in those files. With the right spin on it what they plan could easily be seen as treason. In any case it should be enough evidence to bury them ten times over."

"Then why are you so worried and tense?"

"They plan large scale re-education camps for men and women alike who are reluctant to accept their new world order of male supremacy. Apart from the fact that they read like really bad sado-maso literature, those camps would make the re-education camps of the Cultural Revolution in China look like a Club Med holiday. What has me worried is that I'm not sure that they have not yet started just doing this on much smaller scale. I have no proof. It's just a feeling at the moment…"

"Your instincts are rarely wrong, Mum. Did you call this BAU guy you spoke with yesterday?"

"No, but I put a warning in the overview file I sent," Sam answered.

"Then trust that the others will do their job, Sam. As far as I see it, it's out of your hands now," Cassie said.

"When did you get so wise, kiddo?"

"I had good teachers. Now come, you said something about a bed."

-x-x-x-

It was early afternoon when Sam walked into the kitchen in search of food and coffee, not necessarily in that order. The kitchen was deserted but she found a thermos with coffee on the counter and some leftovers in the fridge, probably from lunch. It looked like chicken salad.

Sam stared at it for some time before she spooned some on a plate. Daniel sometimes had brought an according to Jack O'Neill rather spicy chicken salad to Jack's barbeques but she never had even tried it. Chicken salad had been one of her mother's specialties and one of her favorites, and since her Mum's death she had never been able to bring herself to eat it.

She thought back to about an hour ago when she had woken up with her head on Teyla's lap, Teyla's hand stroking her back while she was leaning against the headboard reading. It reminded her of many similar occurrences with Janet, and only a few days ago even the thought about those happy times would have sent a pang of pain through her heart because she had thought them forever gone and lost. Until a few days ago she would have feared losing her love for Janet by wishing to be held by anyone. That had changed, dramatically.

Perhaps it was time to give her feelings for her mother the same chance, to allow them the place they deserved, among her good memories, not among the losses and the pain.

Sam raised the fork with chicken salad to her mouth. She stopped for a moment, closed her eyes and tasted. She didn't really know what she had expected, but it tasted nothing like the chicken salad she remembered from her childhood; and despite her newfound insight Sam was still relieved that the taste was so different.

"Hey, sis, there you are. I heard that you cracked all those files," Mark said.

"It was a group effort, Mark. Do you know if there have been any news from Captain Cragen or otherwise?"

"Not officially. Uncle George has been in and out of the library where they have set up some kind of headquarters quite a few times over the day, but he's rather tight-lipped about it. By the way, what's up with that? The last time I spoke with Dad a few days before he died, he said that Uncle George was planning on retiring," Mark asked.

"He retired about two months ago, Mark, but President Hayes reactivated him as a liaison to the federal and local law enforcement authorities for the time being."

"Two months ago? Father has been dead for two and a half years," Mark said.

"President Hayes convinced him to stay on as his personal military advisor for special projects. Do you want some coffee?"

"Always, Sam. That letter substitution thing… Mom used to write us notes like that when we were kids. She said it would keep our minds alert even when it was only meant to remind us of a play date," Mark said.

"I remember. She kept on coming up with new variations every couple of days for almost half a year. It was fun," Sam said and absentmindedly spooned another portion of chicken salad on her plate.

Cassie who had still been sleeping soundly when Sam had gone downstairs entered the kitchen, also in search of food.

"Chicken salad? I thought you hate chicken salad."

"Sam, hating chicken salad? It's one of her favorites," Mark said.

"Not for a long time, Mark," Sam said. "It reminded me too much of Mum. That's the first time I ate chicken salad in almost twenty-five years."

Sam's tone of voice told Cassie that it would be better to change the topic of conversation. The moment she tried to do that, she knew that she should have chosen another question, "Sam, why does Mark call your mother Mom and you call her Mum?"

Sam flinched and Cassie was about to apologize, "It's alright, Cassie. It's an understandable question."

"I always thought that you just did it to be different," Mark said.

"That might have been a factor, unconsciously, but in reality I did it because it made Mum smile. She said it reminded her of her own childhood. Do you remember the summer with spent with grandma's family in England, Mark?"

It was a rhetorical question but Mark nodded anyway.

"One weekend you were off with the cousins sailing. I had to stay behind with a broken wrist and a bumped ankle. I was a bit miffed at first. The doctor had forbidden me to put any weight on the ankle for at least a couple of days and because of the wrist I couldn't use any crutches. Grandaunt Marge brought out one of those old fashioned wheelchairs with three wheels which can be steered by the front wheel. Uncle Hugh pushed me around for a while and then Mum proposed to go to the museum.

"There was an exhibition on astronomy and the origins of the universe. Even in retrospect I have to say that it was well made and very interesting. There were star charts and pictures and a few experimental exhibits. I had a lot of fun. My wheelchair attracted at lot of attention. There were a lot of families present, children running around and complaining when their parents were trying to call them to order. I heard them call their mothers Mum and I liked how it sounded. On the way back to the house we stopped at an ice cream parlor. It was the first time I called her Mum and it got me a second sundae. The next time I used Mum to get something she thought I should not have it didn't work, but it always got me smile."

"You are one of a kind, Samantha Carter," Mark said.

"I might have heard that one once or twice over the years. Yesterday you said you wanted to talk about something. Would now be a good time?"

A shadow crossed Mark's face but he answered calmly, "Now is as good a time as any, Sam."

-x-x-x-

Twenty minutes later they all met in the den. Tommy and Beth needed the time to change out of their swimsuits and Alex and Olivia to get the hay out of their hair and clothes. Sam had found them in the stables making out. Teyla had been with Ronon giving hand-to-hand lessons to Casey and Vala while Diane and Abbie had looked on.

Everyone found a seat in the den and Mark started to pace. Sam recognized that particular nervous habit from herself, a bit surprised at having anything in common with her brother.

"Mark, stop, take a deep breath. Sit down and let Diane hold you."

The request got Mark to stop pacing and look at his sister with surprise. Sam just shrugged her good shoulder.

"I don't know where to start."

"At the beginning. Start with the moment you put down the phone and began to doubt what I told you about father and what made you change your mind."

Mark's eyes widened and all of a sudden he had that deer-in-the-headlights expression on his face, "You're right, Sam. I didn't want to believe what you told me. I tried to tell myself that there must have been a mistake, that you must have made a mistake because you wanted to believe the worst of him. It took me a day or two but finally common sense prevailed. I knew you would not lie about something like that. I compared Olivia's picture from the net with some of Dad's old pictures, and there were similarities.

"It still was not enough to convince me. So, I climbed up to the attic and found that suitcase. It took me half of the night to look through it all, and after that all I wanted was to hide in a hole and never come out again. I guess the way he was after his cancer went into remission had made me forget how he really was. I'm sorry that I was such a bastard to you, Sam, to you and Janet and to you, Cassie. I should have known better."

Mark was about to get up and resume his pacing but Diane kept a hold on his hand that made him stay put.

"Mark, you already apologized and I accepted the apology. It's in the past. Why don't you tell us what exactly it was that you found in the suitcase that provoked such a strong reaction?"

"What did I not find is more the question," Mark fell silent.

"Jacob kept records of his actions," Diane finally said.

"Records? Like a diary?" Olivia asked.

"No, not like a diary, more like I imagine his mission reports must have sounded like," Mark said. "There was this small black book. I have it upstairs. At first sight I thought it was just an ordinary address book, then I thought that it was some kind of sniper register, you know, how sharp shooters keep a record of their kills."

"Father never was that good of a shot, Mark. He would not have met the qualifications to become a sniper," Sam said.

"That's not how he liked to present himself, but it's also not the question. The first few pages were only gibberish in my eyes, but then I found an entry that made more sense. He must have been angry while writing it. The way he wrote some of the words helped me to understand the abbreviations in the other entries, and then I knew that those entries had nothing to do with the Air Force.

"In this entry he told about following a woman through the streets at night, and then there were some colorful curses because G got in his way. He goes on to describe what he would have done had he not been stopped and dragged away. His next couple of sentences made me throw up and believe you. He wrote that now that he had tasted the real thing that fantasies would no longer enough to satisfy him. He wrote that nothing had ever made him feel as powerful and nothing had ever tasted as sweet as the tears of the women he had taken, no, he wrote, conquered."

Sam and Olivia were both deadly pale. General Hammond's words from a few days ago were still vivid in their minds. Both unconsciously sought more physical contact with their partner; something which Alex and Teyla willingly provided.

"How many more were there?" Sam asked tonelessly.

"I don't know, Sam. Some of the entries are clearly marked as fantasies and with others it was not clear. The book is not full. Six entries are more elaborate and twenty-seven more are cryptic," Mark answered.

"Are there times, dates, names, locations?" Olivia asked.

"No names, but time and date were not encoded."

"The last entry, when was it dated?"

"The mid seventieths. I'll go and get it. There is something else you should see, both of you. It's the real reason why we searched you out," Mark said and went upstairs.

"We'll get us something to drink," Cassie said and motioned for Beth and Tommy to follow her to the kitchen. "I saw OJ and Bitter Lemon in the fridge."

"Bitter Lemon sounds good, Cassie, thank you. We also might need something stronger, later on," Diane said.

"There's a liquor cabinet over there," Alex said and pointed to a plain wall on the side facing the fire place, "but we should wait and see before breaking out the hard stuff."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	33. Chapter 33: The Supremacy Alliance

**CH 33: The Supremacy Alliance**

Mark returned with the black book and a formerly sealed envelope at the same time as Cassie and the teens returned from the kitchen with two trays with drinks and snacks. Mark retook his seat next to his wife and Diane gently rubbed the small of his back. The tension in his body was still more than evident to the others.

Sam said, "We should cross reference the dates and other data in the book with federal and local law enforcement databases. It can help us to find out how many of those thirty-three entries were not a fantasy."

"I didn't think about that, but it might not be necessary. There's something else that… Father left a letter," Mark said and removed some papers from the envelope. "Some things he says sound as if he suffered from some kind of schizophrenia. He talks about some being living inside of him, a being he calls 'Selmak'. He says that Selmak convinced him to come clear and finally admit to what he'd done, and that this Selmak made him feel what it's like to be raped and abused over and over again. He might not have been in his right mind at the end but the particulars of the attacks he gives are too detailed to be the product of his imagination and as far as I could tell the dates in the black book match."

Mark once again fell silent, and though every instinct told Sam that there was more and she longed to ask Mark about it, Sam still held her tongue. She wanted him to tell his news in his own time, especially because with things as they were and their just newly patched relationship she would not be able to tell him the truth. She would not be able to tell him that their father was not delusional but that there had really been another sentient being living inside of him, someone more than capable of making him relive some of their own memories, and judging from what was left of Jolinar in her it was more than probable that at one time or the other in Selmak's long life there had been similar situations.

Alex and Olivia knew of the Goa'uld and they knew of the Tok'ra, but Sam had not had the chance to tell them about General Carter having become a member of the Tok'ra. It had not come up. Teyla knew and her touch was the only thing that kept Sam from jumping up and pacing nervously before spilling her guts.

Olivia's eyes had widened and she had quickly added two and two, but she held her tongue, instead she asked, "General Carter's confession might help us to identify his victims. The statute of limitations has probably long run out on his crimes but with Sam's computer skills we might be able to give the victims closure or at the very least close some cold cases."

Neither Mark nor Sam said anything but Thomas nudged his mother to go on, "There was more than just the letter to Mark. Jacob also wrote letters of apology to his victims, thirteen in all. They sound genuine, honest, sensitive in a way I have never known Jacob to be. Those letters were a real surprise, and I don't really know what to make of it and what he intended when leaving them with Mark."

Sam had a very clear idea what he had intended. Sam was sure that he had written those apologies for one reason and one reason only, to get Selmac off his case. She doubted that he had really felt guilt or regret. Selmac had shamed or forced him to admit his crimes and make amends. She picked the black book up and turned page after page, the entries stopped in the mid-1970s, around the time of his promotion to Major, the time he had, at least officially retired from active field duty. Had he really stopped then or had he just stopped recording his crimes?, she asked herself.

"If Aunt Sam can identify the women we could give them the letters," Elizabeth said.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Beth," Mark said. "Bringing them those letters might open up old wounds. But it's one of the things we have to decide together. The other thing we have to decide is what to do with the money."

"Money? What money?" Sam asked.

"Those papers give us joined access to an account in Nassau with almost two hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars," Mark said.

"A quarter of a million dollars?" Olivia said.

"Where did he get that kind of money?" Sam asked at the same time.

"In the letter he said that it were bonuses for jobs well done," Tommy said.

-x-x-x-

"With all due respect, Sir, but mounting a concerted strike against the known Supremacy Alliance headquarters and outposts now would be premature," Aaron Hotchner said, answering a question of his superior. "I understand that there are time restraints because of the impeding arraignments, but we still do not know how wide spread that organization really is. At the moment we still have a treasure trove of data thanks to Colonel Carter and her team. We're still in the process of analyzing that data. Colonel Carter also sent a file with additional statistical and analytical data, including a warning against acting on the data before everything has been reviewed properly. And she has a point. We risk letting get half of them get away otherwise. So, please give us the time we'll need to present a case to you that will be as foolproof as possible."

"You have until tomorrow twenty-hundred hours local time to let me know what to put on those search warrants and how many of them we'll need. By then we'll also need written statements from everyone involved," the man at the other end of the line said.

"I'll see to it, Sir. Agent Jareau can conduct the interviews and take the statements, assisted by Detective Benson. All the major players are at the safe house in the Hamptons at the moment."

-x-x-x-

Sam looked thoughtful and stood up. She excused herself and returned a few minutes later with her laptop. She booted it up, "Mark, can you give me the particulars of the account? I want to have a look at the account history."

"Sure, but why? Are you insinuating that Dad was a thief as well as a rapist?" Mark asked.

"I do not know, Mark. There are a lot of perfectly logical explanations for where that money could have come from. What I do know is that the Air Force is not in the habit to reward their officers with money. Promotions, yes, commendations and medals, yes, monetary compensation, no," Sam said.

"Are you trying to tell us…" Mark said with disbelief in his voice.

"I don't know what I'm saying or thinking. I only know that we have to find out from where he got that kind of money."

"Could he not have just saved it over the years?" Diane asked.

"It's a possibility but why did he feel the need to link the money to services rendered? And why was it not part of his estate? Now, let's have a look," Sam said.

She focused on the screen and began to type while the others looked on silently. And Sam would not have been Sam if it had taken her long to find for what she had been looking.

"The account was opened six months before father's death and two days later two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were wired in from Rubinstein & Sons here in New York. According to their records they bought jewels from him, rubies and diamonds. He had the proper certificates of origin, but that still does not answer from where he got the jewels," Sam said.

"Any ideas on that, Sam?" Olivia asked.

"Why don't we ask Uncle George, Mum? He was the general's friend."

"That's a good idea, Cassie. We'll do just that. In the meantime… In that letter, did he say what he wanted us to do with the money?" Sam asked.

"No, he just said to do with it whatever we want, as long as it is a joint decision of his children," Mark said. "And to me that includes you, Olivia. You have a say in that as well."

"I'm not sure if I want to have anything to do with money coming from a serial rapist," Olivia said.

"That's what our children also said. They don't even want to use the College funds Sam put up for them with the money from his estate," Diane said.

"Excuse me, but that's plain stupid," Cassie said. "I was there when Sam handled his estate and the money that went into the College funds came from his life insurance and the proceeds from the house in Colorado Springs. It's absolutely legit, and if you ask me, Tommy, Beth, he owes you. The money will put you through college and might even be enough to get you started on whatever you want to do after that. Use it."

"But what about you, Cassie? Sam did not take her share of his estate, and that should have gone into your college fund," Tommy said.

"Sam and Mom provided for me, amply. I could have chosen any college or university I wanted, money would not have been the problem. Mom had a sizable life insurance and Sam put the proceedings from her patents in my fund. She said that she does not need them."

"Patents?" Mark asked.

"Oh, yes, Aunt Sam wrote the base codes most of the multi-player online games use. Simple and elegant and just perfect. I wish I were half as good at coding," Beth said with a dreamy expression on her face.

"Give it a bit more time, Beth. The last samples you sent were really good. You have the knowledge and the instincts, just give it some more time. By the way, did Bob contact you?" Sam asked.

"Bob Kawhery, yes, he sent an email. I don't know what strings you had to pull, Aunt Sam, but yes, he gave me a challenge. I sent the answer just before we left for New York, but I haven't checked my email account since then," Beth said.

"Bob, who?" Mark asked.

"He's just a programmer, Dad. If he likes what I did I might get a job as a free lance programmer," Elizabeth said. "Just a bit of additional pocket money."

"It's not a question of if, Beth. He was ready to hire you after I showed him a sample of your work. Bob knows talent and skill when he sees it."

Beth cast a warning glance to Sam. From her perspective her father didn't need to know about her extracurricular activities; and he certainly didn't need to know that in the gaming world Robert Kawhery was the equivalent of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs fused in one. Her father knew that she had a knack for computers but he didn't know how good she really was, and Beth wanted it to stay that way.

Sam caught the signal and changed the subject without missing a beat, "But let's get back to business. Olivia and I will take the data from father's letter and his confession, look through the black book and set up a search algorhythm to identify his victims while you go and search General Hammond. He might know something about those gems."

-x-x-x-

Three hours later Antonia called everyone to dinner. She had recruited Gwen, Meredith, Mark and Diane as helpers and served a three course dinner. General Hammond, wearing civilian clothes, looked relaxed and excited, but with a barely perceptible undercurrent of tension. Sam deduced from his body language that he had news, good news for them all at least mostly good news and was just waiting for dinner to end to let them know.

George Hammond had been surprised when he had heard about the Nassau account. He had told them that he had known about the jewels but since there had been so much going on he had completely forgotten about that money. He simply had assumed that it had been part of Jacob Carter's estate. In a private conversation George had told Sam that the gems had not originated on Earth but that her father had picked them up working for the Tok'ra.

In a way Sam had been relieved that there now as a perfectly logical explanation for the money in the Nassau account, but that still didn't make it easier to decide what to do with it. And she also didn't know how to explain their legitimacy to her suspicious brother. Telling him that it was privileged and classified information certainly would not do.

Before Antonia had the chance to direct her helpers who now included Emily, Beth, JJ and Jennifer to remove the dessert plates, General Hammond rose from his seat. Judging from the carefully neutral expressions on the faces of Judge Preston and Judge Petrovsky, Sam assumed that they already knew what he was about to say.

"Please, listen up. There have been new developments. Marco Manzoni, the accomplice of Robert White, has struck a plea bargain with the DA's office yesterday evening. It will considerably reduce his charges but he still will serve time for accessory to a kidnapping and wrongful deprivation… sorry, I'll have to look this one up, legalese is not my language. Here it is: wrongful deprivation of personal liberty… and bodily injury against an officer of the court. Six to nine years instead of the twenty years to life he would have faced for the additional charge of accessory to attempted murder and extortion. In return he will testify against Robert White in open court, and it seems that he has very interesting things to say about White's gaming habit and debts. District Attorney Branch expects that with those news White's lawyers will try to convince him to also seek a plea bargain," Hammond said.

Olivia pulled Alex in a kiss while Sam filled in the blanks for her family and Teyla who had been given the details of the rescue mission during which Sam's shoulder had been injured but not the whole background information. It took a while for everyone to quiet down before he began to tackle his next subject.

George Hammond turned towards the left side of the big dinner table, "Judge Preston, since it was your court session that has been disrupted, do you want to do the debriefing on the Supremacy Alliance?"

"Thank you for the offer, General Hammond, but you have been in closer contact with Washington. Please, go ahead."

"Thank you, Judge Preston. This morning CNN received another email from the Supremacy Alliance, repeating the former threats and adding Judge Preston and Alice Argile, the editor-in-chief of CNN to the list of targets. Security intercepted another letter bomb sent to Judge Preston's house around midday. Mrs. Argile has decided to cover the Alliance story herself. She is on stand-by with her news team to go on location in Kansas when the intervention against the Alliance will start, constantly surrounded by FBI agents.

"Tentative plans speak of early Monday morning, before the trial against Williamson resumes and the courtroom attackers will have their arraignment hearings, but that could be subject to change, depending on what the BAU makes of the additional data found last night. So far, the BAU recommends a synchronized intervention at all known locations of that organization, including the houses and farms not on the first list. The necessary warrants will be ready by then. Oh, Miss Carmichael, the US Attorney General wants you to supervise the raid on the house in Manhattan. He will contact you with the particulars tomorrow."

General Hammond took a sip from his wine.

"There is another house in Queens," Meredith Killy, the former juror, said. Her voice was soft and would not have carried over the whole table under normal circumstances, but since everyone was waiting for Hammond to continue it could not be missed.

"478, 34th Street," Sam said.

Meredith nodded.

George walked over to a sideboard and consulted a folder, "That's not on the list of known locations."

"Sir, may I borrow your cell phone for a moment? Mine is in the charger," Sam asked.

George Hammond handed her his smart phone and Sam called Penelope Garcia, "Penny, it's Sam. Did you already have a chance to study the files with the invoices?"

"Yes, that's what I thought as well, I was wrong. Check them out, especially the utility bills. I'd be surprised if you'll find even one of those addresses on the real estate lists."

Sam listened for a while, "Yes, I'll tell them."

"To you as well, and Penny, try to get some sleep. Your typing cadence seems a bit down."

Sam laughed and ended the call.

"Sorry for the interruption, Sir. I'm afraid I just created more work for the BAU and the other teams working the case," Sam said.

"Could you please elaborate, Colonel Carter?" Judge Petrovsky asked.

Sam looked at General Hammond for confirmation, "With pleasure. Among the hidden files we found yesterday were a few with paid bills, electricity, the phone, water, gas. I didn't think much of it. I assumed that they were for the real estates we already know about. I should have known better. Whoever our anonymous friend is, they don't waste time with being redundant. My guess is that those invoices will direct us to other Alliance properties and my gut feeling tells me that there we'll find some for them very valuable assets. Penny Garcia will identify them and check them out.

"But you're itching to do it yourself, right, Sis?" Mark asked.

"I should not have missed it in the first place, Mark, and marked those files as important, but it's not a question of wanting. For the sake of the case I can't become more involved than I already am. When that whole thing comes down, especially the courtroom attack there can be no legal loopholes. I was one of their main targets. It would be inappropriate for me to become more involved in the investigation than I already was or am," Sam answered.

"But, Aunt Sam, you and Mom already worked through the night to find those files," Tommy said.

"That's true, Thomas, but there's a difference between finding the files and analyzing, interpreting them. I'm pretty sure that your mother and the others didn't even read the files. Your aunt had to at least skim over the content to make sure that the decryption process had not compromised the integrity of the data. With her eidetic memory it was to be expected that she retained more information that the average human being would.

"Officially, however, she can not be part of the investigation or the taskforce that will take the Supremacy Alliance down. Colonel Carter is a key witness for the prosecution, just like everyone else in that courtroom, especially Agent Prentiss. And speaking of prosecution, Miss Cabot, DA Branch wants you to take first chair on this. Miss Carmichael will sit second chair."

"What about the Williamson trial?" Alex asked.

"Williamson is the only witness in his defense. Mister Langan had a whole slew of experts lined up but his client refused them all. According to Langan he said that the truth will speak for itself," Judge Petrovsky said. "So, we'll have the closing arguments sometime Tuesday, and I don't expect the jury to take long to come to a decision."

"What do we know about the attackers, Sir?" Olivia asked General Hammond. "You said yesterday that they have ties to the Supremacy Alliance."

"I was about to come to that when we got sidetracked," Hammond answered. "Of the eleven men arrested yesterday, seven are Alliance members. The other four, like Kelles' lawyer, Francis Juniper, have close familial ties to key members of the Alliance. All except for Juniper have lawyered up and Juniper already told us everything he knows. Among others he confirmed that the main goal of the courtroom attack was not to free Kelles, that would only have been a bonus. Their main goal was to abduct Miss Novak, Judge Petrovsky and Colonel Carter as well as Detective Benson, had she been in the courtroom at the time. The detectives of the 16th Precinct and a few others are still interrogating them, and Captain Cragen just told me that they are making leeway with four of them."

"General Hammond, do we know what they wanted to do with us?" Casey asked. "I mean, it can't have been for money."

"Juniper was rather vague in that regard. He said something about teaching America a lesson but didn't get more concrete than that," Hammond answered.

To lift the stunned silence that had fallen after this statement Sam asked, "Sir, have you heard from the BAU undercover agents?"

"May I answer that, Sir?" Jennifer Jareau asked.

"Go ahead, Agent Jareau."

"Agents Rossi and Reid have gained access to the main Alliance compound near Dodge City, Kansas, posing as father and son. Agent Hotchner is in sporadic contact with them, but we keep it short. They know that there will be an intervention soon, but we do not know much more than that they are alright. Agent Morgan told me that Doctor Reid sounded a bit uneasy, but it seems as if he is holding up well. They also have an emergency code if they are in danger and we should need to extract them."

After that Caroline ended dinner and offered coffee for all in the living room, but most of the guests preferred to go their own way.

-x-x-x-

Meredith Killy held Sam back when she was about to leave the dining room, "May I have a moment, Colonel Carter?"

"Of course, Mrs. Killy. Thank you for speaking up earlier. It was a great help," Sam answered. "Is there anything I can do for you in return?"

"I know what they planned to do with you and the others," Meredith said.

"I thought as much from the expression on your face, and I have a pretty good idea about that myself. They would probably call it 'reeducation' or something like that, learning the proper place of a woman. Would you tell me how they manipulated the juror pool to get you on that case?"

For a moment Meredith's expression showed surprise and then she smiled. The smile transformed her whole face but it also showed a deep rooted sadness, "They didn't. I'm registered. It was just luck of the draw. They even had a doctor lined up to attest that I was too ill to sit on the juror's bench, but then orders from Kansas came in. I was supposed to make sure that the defendant would not be convicted if the rescue attempt failed."

"Would you have done it? Stand alone against eleven other jurors?" Sam asked.

"I do not know. I hope that I would have had the strength to follow my heart and my conscience. I hope that I would have found him guilty. But I do not have your strength, Colonel."

"Call me Sam, please. And there are many kinds of strength. I only did what I was trained to do. I defended myself. Earlier at dinner when you spoke up though you are still afraid of those men - that needed strength, Mrs. Killy."

"Meredith, please, call me Meredith. Did you know that Carl Kelles was the stepbrother of the current leader of the Supremacy Alliance?"

"No, I did not. Did you tell Agent Prentiss?"

Meredith shock her head and looked down on the floor.

"It's alright, we can do that later, together. General Hammond will have to tell the Attorney General," Sam said.

Meredith had her hands folded in her lap and Sam reached over to reassure her. Instead the skin contact sent a wave of throbbing pain through her body. Sam had to close her eyes for a moment to regain her composure. The woman sitting calmly in front of her was in pain, and from the way it felt she had been suffering for quite some time.

And now Sam was faced with a dilemma. Her healing ability responded to Meredith Killy's need and pain like it never had before and it took her a lot of willpower to reign it in. She wanted to help her, to take her physical pain away, but just as with the orderly in the courtroom she didn't dare for fear of being found out. But she also couldn't just let it go.

"Did you see a doctor for the welts on your back, Meredith?"

Meredith's posture stiffened and her eyes widened, but she didn't look up.

"I can see from the way you hold yourself that you are in pain. Let us help you with some bandages, painkillers, something to avoid infection."

"How do you know about the welts on my back?" Meredith asked tonelessly.

"I should have caught it earlier, sorry. It's the way you sit and the way you carefully avoid to make abrupt moves with your arms and shoulders," Sam stretched the truth a bit with her answer, but only a bit. Now that she knew what had caused Meredith's rigid posture that avoided even the slightest contact with the backrest of the chair she could have kicked herself at her lack of attention.

"It's nothing. I asked for it."

"Did you ask for it to avoid something worse or did you ask for it because you wanted to be whipped?" Sam asked softly.

Meredith didn't answer though the expression on her face told Sam enough.

"Please let me call a doctor. East Hampton Memorial Hospital is only about twenty minutes away from here; just to make sure that there's no infection."

Meredith studied Sam's face attentively, "You really care. Why? If not for that attack going wrong I would have been the reason for the rapist of your daughter to go free."

"Because I do not believe in torture. Let me call a doctor."

"No doctor, please."

"Alright, then at least let me have a look, me and Agent Prentiss. I was trained as a field medic and Agent Prentiss has similar training. There is no need for you to be in pain any longer," Sam said.

Meredith took Sam's hand in her own and studied it as if it could tell her what to say or do. Finally she looked up and let her gaze roam over Sam's face and her open expression. Coming to a decision she said, "I had worse than that whipping, but I'll let you have a look, no one else, and then I'll tell you and the others everything I know about the Supremacy Alliance - under one condition."

"I'm listening."

"The undercover agents the BAU sent in, they are at the Family Farm just outside of Dodge City, right?" Sam nodded. "Despite the name it's where the new leadership trains the females, the ones who are difficult and hard to break. Winston Bainwright, the SA leader, has issued standing orders that the women held there for training are to be executed should the Farm be attacked by the government or anyone else. Those agents have to protect them, that's my condition."

"It will be done, Meredith."

-x-x-x-

Teyla had waited outside of the dining room for Sam to come out and was quickly recruited to help caring for Meredith's injuries. About an hour later the three of them entered the living room where George Hammond, Abbie, Alex, Olivia and Casey had been waiting for them. With Meredith's permission Sam established a secure live feed to Washington and Kansas to give Hotchner, Morgan and the US Attorney General the chance to listen in. Captain Cragen was still busy interrogating the courtroom attackers and DA Branch had his hands full with curtailing the press. They would be filled in later.

Meredith stated her name, age and marital status. General Hammond asked her to start wherever she felt comfortable but suddenly she seemed to be at a loss for words. Sam took a seat next to the web cam to allow Meredith to focus on her instead of the recording device.

When the woman still seemed to be at a loss what to say Sam tried to break the ice, "When we talked earlier you mentioned that the Supremacy Alliance has a new leadership. Can you tell us anything about them?"

"Did you know that the Supremacy Alliance was founded right after the Civil War?"

Sam answered, "The website dates back to about two and a half years ago. So I presumed that it's a rather young organization."

Meredith shock her head and then gave them a concise history of the Supremacy Alliance and its primary goal of preserving Southern Christian values in a changing world. Founded in Charleston, South Carolina about a month after the end of the Civil War by graduates of The Citadel, a prestigious military academy, they had started out as a tight knit community of only about a dozen families. The values they stood for were conservative to the point of being archaic, with the father as the head of the family and the mother as the head of the household. The only growth they showed was through marriage into like minded families, but they also were realistic enough to allow their children to choose their own way by letting them experience life outside the protective cocoon of the Alliance, a bit like the rumspringer of the Amish. And according to Meredith, in more than one hundred and thirty-five years of history only a surprisingly low number of men and women chose to leave the SA community for good.

One of the main tenants of the Alliance was respect for their elders and for the government and the Constitution. They were not open enough to include anyone but the stereotypical WASP among their ranks but also not extreme enough to accept racists and other proponents of hate. They obeyed the laws and tried to keep what they thought was wrong in the world out of their circle. That changed when Winston Bainwright returned to the SA community after twenty plus years of absence about two and a half years ago.

Bainwright was the oldest son of one of the founding families of the Supremacy Alliance. He had left to prove his worth and independence and he had returned with a modest fortune gained by litigating dot-com firms, modest by Cabot standards. He had been greeted like the proverbial prodigal son and immediately began to influence the Alliance men with his radical ideas. To him supremacy was equivalent to the domination of the Caucasian man over everyone else, starting with their own women whose sole purpose was to serve men, any man. He began to openly recruit likeminded men all around the country and had soon gained enough influence to take over the Alliance completely.

Bainwright also advocated that the best way to teach the women their place was by sexual dominance and stringent domestic discipline. Only then women would learn that their only worth was in serving men and bearing their children. His demands became more excessive and aggressive, the more outsiders, among them Clan members and other racist organizations, flocked to his cause; and they brought in a lot of money, millions according to the files with bank statements Sam had read.

Though the formerly leading families of the Alliance had found themselves dethroned before they had even become aware of it, they had remained the core factor of the organization because they represented their roots and their history, in other words, their legitimacy. Bainwright was smart enough not to try to make them adhere to his new policy at once, but it obviously had still had some appeal to a few of them. The new leadership provided a step by step program on how to train their women and Meredith's husband had been one of the first to try it on his wife, before he died only a few weeks ago.

Hearing this Sam kept her face impassive. Casey, however, could not stop herself from asking, "Why the hell didn't you leave?"

Meredith looked down on the floor and didn't answer. Teyla knelt in front of her and took her hands. She let her fingers draw a figure eight on the back of Meredith's hands and said, "You were born into it."

"Yes."

The answer would not have been necessary since it had not been a real question but it seemed to have given Meredith new strength.

"Yes, I was, and in College I was happy to find a man who shared the values I had been raised to uphold. He saved me from being raped, and no matter what he did, I still love him. After William's death I became a ward of the Alliance along with all of my possessions, and I thought that if I just kept my head down they would leave me alone."

Meredith took a deep breath and continued, "But I'm not here to speak about myself. I'm here to speak about the danger to the other women, those not born into the Alliance, those recruited, those lured in under false pretend, those forced, those sent to be re-educated."

All of Sam's instincts itched to ask her to elaborate when Meredith once again fell silent, but she felt a light touch on the small of her back Sam immediately identified as Olivia's and shut her mouth.

"The Ma… Bainwright established a training program he calls Home Improvement in Kansas. He uses the trained wives of trusted Alliance members to perform the day to day domestic chores. His main focus is on training the others. It's them you need to save."

-x-x-x-x-x-


	34. Chapter 34: Family Decision

**CH 34: Family Decision**

"Noooooooooo!"

It was more a wail then a cry that propelled Sam out of her nightmare. Her heart beat in her throat while the images from her dream started to fade, images of women being raped and abused and humiliated, women she had never seen before. Her vivid imagination had not needed detailed descriptions to fill her mind with flashes of what was probably going on in the Alliance compound in Kansas and the so called Home Improvement Program. Sam tried to calm herself with the knowledge that those women would not have to suffer for much longer and Bainwright's regime of terror would be brought down soon.

She felt Teyla's comforting gaze on her and made eye contact. Her heart rate calmed down when she felt Teyla's left hand resting over her heart and her right on the side of her face. Her rigid muscles relaxed at the sight of the love and understanding in Teyla's eyes. Sam tried to smile but her facial muscles didn't follow her commands.

"It's alright, my Sam. We're safe and those women will soon be as well."

Sam willed her right hand to loosen the strangle hold she had on the sheets and reached up to touch Teyla. And Teyla leaned closer to make it easier for her, obviously sensing her soon to be lover's needs. Teyla waited for Sam's heartbeat to return to normal and for her eyes to clear. She then pulled Sam in a sitting position and told her to get ready to work on that, as she called it, that deformed silver bullet.

Instead of being offended Sam gave her a genuine smile and kissed her, just enough to convey her gratitude for Teyla's care but not enough to ignite their passion.

"Come, let's go, so that I can see you play, my Sam. It will keep your mind of things you can not change."

"Play?" Sam asked while she pulled on some jeans and a top.

"Yes, Samantha, play. I spent a lot of time observing you and Rodney work. You have very different approaches. Rodney's way to deal with new technology seems to be intuitive but it's not. He's just faster than most of us are. With him it's just a question of how to interpret the laws of physics. You are different, even before the Accident, Samantha. Most of the time when you discover something new on Atlantis you look like a child with a new toy. Rodney always looks like someone out to conquer the Wraith, but you, Samantha, you just have fun. Here you have no Ancient riddle to solve, but you have that silver bullet."

They walked to the garage hand in hand. Sam half expected to find at least the engine to have been rebuild already, instead they found the garage dark and deserted. The gleaming and polished parts she saw on the work table after she had activated the light switch told Sam that one of the other race car enthusiasts of their group, probably George Hammond or Jennifer Hailey, had already found something to do. The parts were lined up in the exact sequence she would need them when reassembling the engine, an invitation to rebuild the engine by herself.

Sam understood the message but she did not give in to its temptations. So, instead of rebuilding the engine Sam started to dismantle the body and the interior of the car, and not only because it would make it easier to get the rewiring done. When Antonia sent Diane to call them to breakfast Sam's eyes were still gleaming with enthusiasm and at the table she announced that she had work to do for everyone not busy with legal issues.

When Abbie and Alex came into the garage three hours later to take Sam's statement about the attack in the courtroom they were faced with ant colony like activity that left them speechless. Of the car seemed to be not much more left than the bare frame of the chassis sitting incongruously on its axles and wheels. Sam seemed to be everywhere at once. She tackled the wiring with Jennifer and Olivia as her assistants and supervised the work of the other volunteers. It was a mesmerizing sight, and one Abbie was unable to resist for long. After a few minutes of nobody paying any attention to them she saw General Hammond struggling with an almost completely rebuilt door and was at his side in two quick strides, helping him to put it on a thick work blanket.

Alex thought about protesting and calling her to order, but then her eyes fell on Olivia who had stripped out of her sweater and was only wearing a tank top that allowed Alex to see the well defined muscles of her back and arms. Her gaze followed every shift and she couldn't help but smile every time Olivia smeared more oil or grease on her face when she pushed her hair back. There was a smile on her face and after the horrible nightmare that had woken her right after midnight it felt just too good to see her beloved smile again.

Olivia had dreamed about Alex in the hands of those Alliance bastards, being tortured. Her overactive imagination had fused the few details Meredith had given them earlier with elements of Cassandra's testimony about her treatment by Kelles and his men. It had been hard work to get Olivia to talk about her nightmare and it had taken a long time for her to calm down. In the end the shadows had vanished from her eyes and they had made love, gently and slowly, completely attuned to each other, just as if they never had been apart.

Olivia looked up and saw Alex sitting on the far end of the work bench. The dreamy expression on Alex' face was more than she could resist. So, she wiped her hands on a dirty rag and walked over to her lover. There was a distinct swagger in her movements that brought a bright smile on Alex' face. Olivia put her hands on the work bench and nudged Alex' legs apart to step between them.

"Hello, beautiful. Do you have your closing argument all worked out?"

"Hello, grease monkey, we didn't even start. We were on the phone with the one-six. They had a very productive night. According to Fin Don and Captain VanBuren made a scary team interviewing our perps. Almost all of them waived their rights and now they are singing like the proverbial birds. They not only confirmed what we already heard from Meredith, they also gave additional information that is checked out as we speak. There will be a briefing for everyone involved in the afternoon. All we have left to do on our side is take Sam's statement. That's why Abbie and I came over."

"And I thought you just missed me and couldn't stand the idea of not seeing me for a minute longer," Olivia said with faux hurt in her voice.

"Looking at you made me stay, my Liv. You're just too cute with your face all dirty," Alex bent down and kissed the tip of Olivia's nose. "You know in witness protection I sometimes amused myself with imagining you right there with me, but I never imagined seeing you as a mechanic. Now I see that I missed out on a lot of enticing fantasies."

"Put like that, I admit that it has its possibilities," Olivia said. Her eyes had a mischievous glint, her dirty hand sneaked behind Alex' neck and pulled her closer. For a moment it seemed as if she wanted to repeat Alex' playful kiss but instead she claimed Alex' lips in a passionate, breathtaking, all consuming kiss.

Sam had looked for Olivia and saw them out of the corner of her eyes. She shock her head, smiled and refocused on her work. A few moments later she looked up again. The kiss had ended. There now was a faint black smear on Alex' left cheek. She held Olivia pulled close; and Olivia's arms were stretched up around Alex' neck. She could only see them in profile but they appeared to be lost in a world of their own and the expressions on their face spoke of a deep, abiding love and trust and devotion.

Sam felt a presence next to her and turned around. Vala put a hand on her arm and asked, "Are you alright, Sam? I can get them to tone it down."

Vala's concern brought a bright smile on Sam's face, "I'm fine, Vala, thank you for caring. Seeing other people happy and as obviously in love as they are no longer hurts, not now that I have another chance at love myself."

Sam automatically scanned for Teyla and found her at the side talking with George Hammond. Her face lit up like the Christmas tree on Times Square when Teyla turned her head, smiled and waved her over.

-x-x-x-

Shortly before lunch was ready to be served Caroline and Lena Petrovsky drove everyone out of the garage to freshen up or take a shower, after having taken some pictures. After the others were gone Lena Petrovsky even asked Caroline for copies of the two pictures that showed Alex and Olivia still lost to the outside world, kissing and whispering to each other. She told Caroline that those pictures were better leverage to get Alex to behave in her courtroom than the threat of holding her in contempt.

Caroline laughed at that and said, "Or we could use them as publicity material for Alexandra's bid at the DA's chair in a few years."

"It would get her the votes of all the lesbians, that's for sure," Petrovsky answered with a smile.

"Oh, not only theirs, Lena. The first picture alone would fuel the fantasies of the male constituency for months, though I doubt that Alexandra would want to win this way," Caroline said suddenly turning serious.

"If she likes it or not her private life will be a topic of interest to the press and the electorate, but that will not be for quite a few years, and a lot of things can change for the better."

"I've never known you to be such an optimist, Lena, and with organizations like that Supremacy Alliance around I'm not sure if optimism is really warranted."

"I admit that we don't live in the best of all possible worlds, Caroline, and that something like the Supremacy Alliance or the Ku-Klux Clan should not exist, but to see someone like Meredith Killy start to stand up for herself and to help others and to see the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney General for once act in concert, that's at least reason to hope," Lena Petrovsky said while they walked back to the house. "Sometimes, when I sit behind my bench and have to let human monsters go just because the law has not yet caught up with the depravities of the world hope is the only thing I have left."

"There's a reason that hope was the only thing Pandora could keep in her box," Caroline put her arm around her friend's shoulders and squeezed in sympathy.

-x-x-x-

Sam was combing her long hair when Teyla emerged from the shower. Sam looked at her and wanted nothing more than to rip off the towel she had wrapped around herself and ravish her on the bed. Waiting had seemed to be such a good idea but it was getting harder every day, every hour even. She wanted to retrace Teyla's lips with the tip of her tongue and curl her fingers into Teyla's tresses and…

Sam shock herself out of her reverie and asked, "I hope Uncle George didn't come on too strong. He can be a bit overprotective."

"He said nothing I had not expected. You'll probably get a similar lecture by either the shaman or a member of the council. It's tradition, and should I ever hurt you or start taking you for granted I would expect him to hunt me down as if I were a rabid dog, whatever that may be," Teyla answered with a smile.

"He really said that? I'm sorry, Teyla."

Teyla had slipped on some trousers and one of Sam's black T-shirts and walked over to the vanity, "Don't be, Samantha. George Hammond is the closest thing you ever had to a caring, loving father. It's his right to threaten the suitor of his heart-daughter."

"How I love you, Teyla-mine," Sam rose and kissed Teyla, and they continued kissing until firm knocking on the door called them to lunch.

-x-x-x-

After lunch Sam gave her official statement to Abbie and Alex with Judge Petrovsky as a witness while Olivia, Tommy, Beth and Cassie worked on identifying Jacob Carter's victims. Olivia and Sam had made a good start the day before by mapping the rapes and checking the time table with Jacob Carter's service record, not that anyone doubted his confession but it was always better to make sure. Sam's specialized search algorhythms did their job. To find out more about the two victims in Philadelphia they would have to use a good old-fashioned phone call. Their cold cases had not been properly computerized yet though they had a whole unit dedicated to go over cold cases.

The probability to find someone in their office on a Sunday afternoon was extremely low but Olivia nonetheless tried it and was rewarded by a woman's voice, "Rush, Cold Cases, how can I help you?"

Olivia introduced herself and explained her request of assistance and Lilly Rush promised to call back as soon as possible. By the time they hung up Jennifer Hailey had started setting up the big flat screen in the den for the briefing from Washington scheduled for 4:30 pm.

The small web cam sending the images from the living room to Washington and the DA's office in New York was focused on three people sitting in the front row, General Hammond, Abbie Carmichael and Alexandra Cabot. Everyone else had found a seat in the back, including Mark and his family.

US Attorney General Ronald Lassner appeared on the screen, flanked by David Mayer, the Secretary of the Interior. Both men looked tired though the secretary hid it better. They had spent the last couple of days being either briefed on the new developments concerning the Supremacy Alliance, or had been in meetings to decide what to do about that organization and arrange for the intervention. Never before had an operation of this magnitude been organized in such a short time.

"Before we start this briefing, ladies and gentlemen… Colonel Carter, could you please join General Hammond front and centre," Lassner said.

Sam was leaning against the side of the mantle and was expectedly not really comfortable with being singled out but she did as she had been told. Ronon's encouraging tap on her good shoulder made her smile, and it was with that smile that she greeted both men.

David Mayer sat up a bit straighter, "Colonel Carter, I have a message from President Hayes for you. He wants you to know that he has started working on what you talked about at the end of your conversation a few days ago."

Sam's eyes widened at that and she could almost see the question marks in the eyes of the others.

"He also wants you to know that it may take a while because Congress is not known to act fast and he thinks that he will have to do some convincing with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs."

"Thank you, Mister Secretary," Sam wanted to say more but she was too choked up to learn that the President had really taken her seriously. Besides, this was not the time or the place for further discussion and the briefing had been held up long enough. There was nothing to do but to curb her curiosity.

"Now, let's get back to the topic at hand. As of thirteen hundred hours today the Supremacy Alliance has been declared in violation of the Constitution of the United States of America. In following up evidence made available to the Secretary of the Interior and the US Attorney General search warrants have been issued and will be carried out in a joined effort of local law enforcement, FBI and ATF. The operation will start at o nine hundred hours tomorrow. I'll leave it to Attorney General Lassner to give you the details. For now let me convey my personnel gratitude to every single one of you who helped to make the case against this dreadful organization."

Mayer nodded towards Ronald Lassner and disappeared from the screen. Lassner then began to inform them about the details of the operation, and the sheer magnitude of it was mind boggling since it involved over three dozen interventions in thirteen States, not counting the seizure of bank accounts and office space. By the time he was finished the minds of the better part of his audience were buzzing with details they had no chance to retain.

One person who might have been able to memorize most of the details was only listening with half an ear. Her mind was still stuck on Sam's exchange with the Secretary of the Interior. Jennifer didn't know of many things that would need the approval of Congress and of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and if her suspicions were correct then thousands of soldiers would no longer have to hide who they really were. The thought alone was intoxicating but at this point she didn't dare to believe that it might be true. Deep in thought Jennifer almost missed Ronald Lassner's parting words.

"On behalf of the security and stability of the United Stated of America I thank you all for your dedicated work and commitment. My office and the BAU will stay in contact with General Hammond and keep you up to date on new developments. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Oh, Miss Carmichael, check your emails. You'll find instructions on the raid on the two New York addresses of the Supremacy Alliance. I left it up to you which one you'll witness personally and which one you'll leave for a deputy of your choosing to attend."

The screen went black and George Hammond turned his attention to Sam, "Did you really…?"

Sam's thoughts had been leagues away, going over the plan the US Attorney General had just lined out, searching for flaws, but so far nothing jumped out to her. It sounded like a sound plan but that didn't chase away her feeling that something was not as it should be, that they had missed something.

"Talk to me, Sam. Did you really ask the President to repel 'don't ask, don't tell'? What were you thinking? That could have ruined your career."

When Sam didn't answer he repeated his question and enforced it with a loud 'Colonel Carter' that effectively got the attention of most others in the room.

"President Hayes didn't ask and I didn't tell, Sir," Sam finally said. "When all the important things had been talked about the President expressed his regret that he would not be able to reward my actions with another promotion and I told him that becoming a general was the last thing I wanted, at least not now. He asked what I wanted and I said that I would like my country to stop to penalize their citizens for loving someone they shouldn't. He asked me to clarify. I said, 'Don't ask, don't tell', and he said that he would think about it and ended the call. I really didn't take it too seriously and I was still stunned by the simple fact that I can keep my command. I admit it might not have been one of my brighter moments."

"So, I was right, the Secretary of the Interior talked about repelling DADT, about paragraph 654?" Jennifer Hailey asked.

"You were right, Lieutenant Hailey, but don't go out and rent advertising space in the paper just yet. There's no telling when or if a bill relating to this subject will pass Congress and even then it will not only need the President's approval but also the approval of the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to assure that it will not harm the smooth functioning and battle readiness of our armed forces - and even then it will not go into effect until sixty days after it's ratification."

There probably would have been a more detailed discussion of the topic but Olivia's cell phone rang and to Sam's relief the collective attention was suddenly directed away from her. She felt the strong urge to run off to avoid further questions but she also was curious what Olivia would find out from the woman she had greeted as 'Detective Rush'.

She really had found two rapes in their records that fit the time frame and modus operandi Olivia had sent to Philadelphia, one of them had died in a car crash sixteen years ago, the other was still living in Philadelphia with three kids, the oldest of them born a year and a half after the attack, and five grandchildren. Lilly Rush promised to take care of the paperwork on her end and close the cases.

Olivia asked her if she as the specialist on cold cases and the reactions of victims and their families would leave it to the official channels to inform the women Jacob Carter had violated or if it would be better to let Sam, Mark and Olivia do it.

"Why you, Detective Benson?" Lilly Rush asked.

"Because my mother was one of the women Jacob Carter raped. I am the product of this rape."

There was a long moment of silence at the other end of the line. Finally Rush said, "Leave it up to the official channels but include an offer to meet informally."

"I understand, that will leave the ball in the court of the victims and will not give them the false idea that once again they are forced into something they would rather not do. Thank you, Detective. I will talk it over with my family."

Abbie excused herself to check on her emails. JJ and Emily followed suite. They both wanted to check in with Agent Hotchner to hear his personal take on the situation and find out what he expected them to do the next day. The others also found something to do or somewhere else to be until Mark's family, Olivia, Alex, Cassie, Sam, Teyla and George Hammond were the only ones left in the room. George also wanted to go but Mark asked him to stay.

They talked until it was time for dinner. In the end, and after a long call to Captain Cragen, they decided that Olivia would fill in Elliot and the other detectives of the one-six the next day and that they then would call the other four police departments involved and handle the paperwork. Jacob Carter's letter to his son and the letters of apology would be treated as death-bed-confessions. Legally it would not make a difference since the statute of limitations had long since expired, psychologically it just might give some of the women he violated the closure they probably had already given up on ever having.

That left only the question of what to do with the money in the Nassau account and they reconvened after dinner to discuss it. Tommy and Beth were still adamant that they didn't want to have anything to do with that money. Their college funds were more than ample as they were and they never had had a really strong relationship with their grandfather. Even under Selma's influence the General had treated them more like cadets than children. Cassie's refusal was fuelled by the same thoughts and feelings but she only said that she too did not need General Carter's money.

"I do not want it," Olivia said, "and I guess you don't either, Sam."

Sam shock her head in the affirmative and asked, "What about you, Mark?"

"No, Sam, not me either, but the question remains. In the grand scale of things a quarter of a million dollars is not that much, but it's still too much to let it simply sit there and gather interests."

"Why don't you donate the money, in the name of the women he violated. In New York alone there are about half a dozen organizations dedicated to help victims of rape or domestic violence. I don't know about nationwide charities but I'm sure that my mother could put you in contact with someone who knows," Alex said.

"That sounds like a good idea. I think we should research it," Diane said and the others nodded.

Sam reached for her laptop to get started immediately but Diane put a hand on hers, "Sam, why don't you let me, Tommy and Beth do that? I have a bit of experience with charities, on a small scale. The three of us can talk to Caroline when the rest of you are in court tomorrow. I'm sure that she can get us started, get us in touch with a lawyer specializing in non-profit ventures."

"What do you think, Uncle George?" Mark asked.

"I think that your mother would be very proud of you, Mark, both of you."

"Do you think that she knew about the general's crimes?" Cassie asked.

"No," George's answer sounded almost like an outcry. "Elizabeth would have left Jacob if she would have even suspected something like that. She would have taken Mark and Samantha and filed for a divorce, and she would have made sure that he paid for his crimes if she had been able to find any evidence. She was one of the strongest people I ever met."

"Tell us more about grandma, please. Dad never shares his memories and what we learned from Aunt Sam never seems enough," Tommy asked.

George cast a quick glance first to Sam and then to Mark and both gave him a small nod. His words painted the picture of a strong, independent, extremely smart and beautiful woman. The moment he started speaking Sam felt Teyla's arm around her shoulders and she allowed herself to be pulled closer and be held. Cassie migrated to her other side and that made listening to her godfather talking about a young woman of whom she had no clear recollection almost pleasurable. And it brought back memories of times when she had looked up to her father, when Jacob Carter had been a teacher and a playmate not a commanding officer. She haltingly shared some of those memories, family moments she had not thought about in many years.

-x-x-x-

It was just past six o'clock in the morning when everyone who needed to be in New York that day was ready to step into one of the three armored vehicles that would be escorted by two hammers and had an armed guard in the passenger seat. Secretly Sam thought that much caution to be overdone. The attack on the courtroom had shown that the Supremacy Alliance was certainly not led by a military mastermind. The arrested attackers had admitted that it had been improvised because of the change in testimony, but in her eyes that still did not excuse the sloppy execution of their plan and it did not excuse the fact that the plan itself had been flawed.

Sam had just helped Cassie into the limousine when Tommy and Elizabeth came running out of the house. They still were in their pajamas, "Aunt Sam, wait!"

"Good morning. What are you doing up so early?" Sam asked.

"We just wanted to thank you for telling us those stories yesterday. We know that it must not have been easy. We're glad that now we know that grandfather was more than just a monster. I think we needed to hear that," Beth said.

"You're welcome, kiddos," Sam said, unhooked the sling Mark had insisted she continued wearing and hugged them both.

She got into the car and sat beside Teyla facing Olivia and Mark who were already busy going over the list of names and other particulars they all had compiled the day before to give to Elliot when they arrived at the courthouse. Teyla silently refastened the sling and made sure that there was the least amount of pressure as possible on Sam's shoulder. She nudged Sam to put her head on her shoulder, close her eyes and just relax; even someone whose DNA had been resequenced by an Ancient device to become stronger and faster than the average Human needed sleep every once in a while, and the night before had not be conducive to that.

At the end of the evening when Cassie had started to yawn and Alex had long since fallen asleep nestled in Olivia's arms, Sam had been too keyed up from sharing her past with her family to even rest. Instead she had spent the night completing the wiring of the Maserati. Teyla had assisted her for some time but then she had curled up with a few blankets, intent on watching Sam work but instead succumbing to sleep in a matter of minutes. Sam had woken her with a tender kiss that had quickly turned into a series of passionate kisses. Sam's eyes had been clear and bright, a far cry from the half haunted, half vaguely embarrassed expression her beautiful blue orbs had held the night before.

Early in the morning under the shower spray when Teyla had insisted on washing off the grime and sooth of grease and graphite powder Sam had sheepishly admitted that her shoulder was throbbing painfully because she might have overdone it during the night when she tried to lift a door all by herself. Teyla saw it as a sign of Sam's exhaustion that she had even tried and was determined to make sure that she got as much rest as possible. Coaxing her to close her eyes for the two hours drive to the City was part of that campaign. She drew lazy, rhythmic circles on Sam's flat stomach and was rewarded with a change in her breathing indicative of sleep even before they had reached the freeway.

Teyla was also tired but she relished the chance to openly study her lover, the way her face relaxed in sleep and the vibrant tension so characteristic for Sam when she was awake gave way to youthful innocence. Looking at her sleeping face Teyla could easily imagine the inquisitive toddler George Hammond had talked about and the shy, brilliant teen she had seen shine through when Sam had spoken about her mother. Only when they had reached the hustle and bustle of the beginning of New York City's morning rush hour Teyla became aware that in almost two hours of staring at Sam's face she had not once compared her to her lost love Elizabeth Weir. She smiled at that and sent a thank you to whatever force had blessed her with two women to love with all her heart.

Elliot was already waiting at the side entrance to the courthouse when they arrived. Quick introductions were made and they were led to their waiting room where Olivia briefed Elliot on what they had found out about General Carter and his victims. Alex joined them with a round of coffee for everyone and told them that Abbie and Casey whom Abbie had deputized to witness the raid on the second Supremacy Alliance location in New York had gone off. Munch was staying with Casey while Abbie was shadowed by Fin, officially as representatives of the Special Victims Unit should their unique qualification be needed. Unofficially Captain Cragen wanted them to keep an eye on the two prosecutors, to make sure that they did not hurry headlong into trouble with a capital t.

-x-x-x-x-x-


	35. Chapter 35: The Aftermath

**CH 35: The Aftermath**

A few minutes before nine o'clock they all filed out to take their respective seats in Judge Petrovsky's courtroom, Alex at the prosecutor's table, the others on the benches behind her. Entering, Sam saw immediately that the number of orderlies had been doubled and she saw more than just a few familiar faces belonging mostly to SGC Marines. Olivia in turn pointed a few off-duty cops out to her. Sam once again thought that General Hammond and whoever else might be responsible for the subtle show of strength was overly cautious. The Supremacy Alliance would not start another attack, not even they could be that arrogantly stupid.

Williamson and Langan were already there, speaking in hushed tones, too low for Sam to overhear. Trevor Langan's body language, however, made it abundantly clear that he felt extremely uncomfortable and angry. Williamson shot Sam a look full of hatred and something she could not clearly define when she took her place between Cassie and Olivia.

Judge Petrovsky came in and asked Williamson to retake the stand. Instead Langan stood up and said, "Your Honor, my client requests being allowed to make the rest of his testimony in the language God has taught him, and he asks that the one sent to him as a witness be his mediator in transmitting the words of God in the almost forgotten language of God."

"Objection, your honor," Alex said forcefully. "The defense is mocking the court. Friday's testimony has shown amply that the defendant knows how to articulate himself perfectly well in English. On Friday he had no problem detailing his crimes for the Jury."

"Your Honor, my client does not challenge the charges listed in the bill of indictment. He did all those things, but he claims his right to justify and explain his actions here in court and thus convince the Jury that he did the right thing. Mister Williamson also claims the right to do that in the language that is closest to his heart. There have been precedents, your Honor, indeed it is common practice to allow witnesses not born to the English language to testify in their first language to avoid all risk of misunderstandings."

"Objection overruled, Miss Cabot. What language are we talking about, Mister Langan and how long will it take you to find a court approved interpreter?"

"Your Honor, I have to renew my objection. The defense is obviously angling for a plea of not-guilty for mental disease or defect with this request."

"Overruled, Miss Cabot. Mister Langan, answer my questions."

"Your Honor, my client requests that the witness to his first confession serve as interpreter for him. Colonel Carter has already proven that she knows how to speak my client's language and as the witness sent by God he trusts her to be true in her translation."

"That's highly irregular, Mister Langan, and you still have not answered my first question," Judge Petrovsky said.

"I apologize, your Honor, but I could not get my client to say more than that Colonel Carter knows the language of God. From the tape with my client's confession and the one of his arrest I presume that it's some kind of Latin. I offered to find a Catholic priest for him well versed in the language but he insists that Colonel Carter is the only one able to understand the subtleties of the language."

Sam stood up slowly when Judge Petrovsky asked her to rise. Her face was set in a neutral mask. To Petrovsky's question if she would be willing to serve as a translator she answered, "To expedite the proceedings, your Honor, I will do it, but to avoid giving the defendant any ground for an appeal, I recommend that you find a Catholic priest or a professor from a classical languages daepartment who can make sure that I do not make any mistakes. I'm not as conversant in Latin as the tapes suggest. I would also recommend that a recording should be made to avoid future misunderstandings."

"Court is in recess for half an hour," Petrovsky said with the bang of her gavel. "Bailiff, find me a priest or someone."

-x-x-x-

In the waiting room a lively debate on the real reasons behind the surprising request was going on but Sam contributed very little. She had a pretty good idea what Williamson's intentions were, and it had nothing to do with an insanity defense or a future chance to win an appeal. He wanted to be heard, and though the idea might have sounded arrogant to most people he wanted to be heard by her. Despite the hatred he felt for a woman not knowing what he thought should be her place in the world, for a woman doing a man's job better than most men, despite his hatred for the woman and the soldier, he still saw her as his witness. By using her voice to convey his beliefs to the Jury he also made her his instrument and reinforced her role as the one that would carry the memory of his crimes and his convictions in her head and probably in her heart 'til the end of her life. Yes, from his perspective it made perfect sense.

Sam also knew that this knowledge would not change anything. She still would translate his words for the Jury and the audience to the best of her abilities. She would do it, if only to prove to herself that she would not loose her temper that easily. She would do it to get this damned trial over with as soon as possible - and she really hoped that no one would ask her when and how she learned Latin to a degree that she was actually able to speak a language considered dead for more than a thousand years.

-x-x-x-

Casey was sitting in a NYPD surveillance van at the corner closest to the Supremacy Alliance house in Queens. Fin was at her right side, an earpiece pressed to his left ear, listening attentively. She didn't hear any music but still envied him the distraction. Court had started over an hour ago and Casey wanted nothing more than to be in Judge Petrovsky's courtroom right now, listening to Williamson digging his own grave with his testimony. Hell, she rather would have busied herself with paperwork than just being relegated to waiting. She hated waiting.

"You alright?" Fin asked suddenly. "That courtroom thing must have been quite the bomb."

"As usual, Fin, you're exaggerating. I was as safe as in my mother's womb. Sam's friend Ronon made sure of that."

"From what I heard being protected did not keep you from using the leg of a chair as a baseball bat," Fin said with a smile.

Casey echoed his smile though not in full force and answered, "To each their own, Detective. Do we have any idea on what to expect inside? And when will this whole shin ding finally start?"

"I heard that the units outside of the Wyoming property are still getting into place. They had been counting on hiding behind some bushes to get close but they were burned down yesterday."

"Do you think those Alliance guys suspect anything?"

"The local sheriff thinks that it's part of the plan they filed with City Hall to widen their driveway but our units are prepared for armed resistance," Fin answered.

"I know. According to the FBI some of the files found list large weapon deals, everything from handguns, automatic rifles and grenades to high grade explosives. That's why they called in the ATF. Did you hear of any other problems? Our van and the other squad cars are not really that inconspicuous."

"No, Casey. So far the chatter out there is mostly of mundane things that have nothing to do with the raid or the other sites. But wait," Fin pressed the earpiece closer, "Yes, here it is, the order to keep radio silence and a five minutes countdown. We should get ready. Do you have your vest?"

"Of course, though I really don't know why we should need them. SWAT will not let us in there before they have searched the house and secured every room."

Fin didn't answer. He just held out the Kevlar vest. Casey sighed but started to put it on, "I know, better safe than sorry."

"Good girl," he said with a wide grin and was rewarded with hard back-handed slap against his stomach.

They both listened to the countdown and for only a few moments it looked like they were at the set for an action film or show. Black clad figures with dark helmets seemed to appear from out of nowhere and ran to the front door. From their vantage point they could not see what was happening in the back, but there were no shots fired and less than ten minutes later the all-clear came.

The house was empty, except for the dead bodies of two women in the basement. Rigor had fully set in and that meant that they had been dead for at least twenty-four hours. The house was not only empty of living people, there also were no documents, no computers or laptops, no files. There only were the two corpses telling their own horrific story. It looked as if those women had been tortured for a long time before someone broke their neck.

Casey remembered with a shudder what Meredith Killy had told them about Bainwright's re-education program in Kansas, and at the moment it seemed that Kansas was not the only place where those atrocities were going on. She stared at the corpses for a long time but did not resist when Fin led her out of the house and to the other side of the street.

"There's nothing we can do, Casey. Let's drive over to the courtroom."

His suggestion brought her back to her usual, professional self, "No, not yet. Call Munch, I'll check in with Abbie to find out if they need our help there."

-x-x-x-

After Judge Petrovsky had reconvened Sam took a position behind and to the right of the witness stand, almost directly in front of the door leading to the judge's chambers. This way she was close enough to hear even soft utterances from Williamson and she would not be in the direct line of sight of the jurors. Alex had proposed this placement to make sure that though the jurors would hear Sam's voice they still would attribute the words to the person they could easily see, the defendant.

Conveniently the bailiff had found a Catholic priest standing in the lobby. He was now sitting in the front row behind the defendant's table, holding a rather voluminous Bible. It matched the ones she had seen on the altar the few times Janet had dragged her to attend a Catholic service, and to see something like that outside of a church was a bit of a puzzle. So, Sam decided to keep an eye on the man, but she soon was distracted with translating Williamson's words, words that were speaking of love and understanding but ultimately conveyed hatred and distrust and bigotry.

For a split second Sam fantasized about cutting out his tongue before translating even one single word more of his poisonous sermon. At one point of Williamson preaching about Christian values and Eve being created out of Adam's ribs to serve, help and strengthen him Sam closed her eyes for a moment. She fervently wished herself to be anywhere but right here having to listen to the delusions of a man she wanted to see at the receiving end of a triple zat'ni'kitel shot.

Suddenly Sam felt a change in the energy of the room. She opened her eyes, ready to run or duck or jump, and found herself looking into the barrel of a semi-automatic handgun less than a body length away. She almost subconsciously tried to catalogue type and caliber but came up short. She saw the discarded Bible on the floor and people trying to leave the room in a panic. The gun didn't waver and the eyes of the priest showed hatred, deeper than anything Sam had ever seen before, including a number of System Lords.

She knew that even with her enhanced reflexes her chances to get out of this situation unscathed were more than slim. She noticed that the SGC Marines and off-duty cops not only helped to get the audience and the jury out of the room, they also tried to get closer to the priest to take him down. Sam had to play for time. She had to get him to talk.

"Before you kill me, I'd like to know why."

And when he answered her Sam knew that he had just made his first mistake, "You are an abomination, your every breath spreads poison. You killed my brother."

"Your brother tried to kill me. I did not ask him to move and have his own knife embedded in his heart instead of his shoulder where it should have hit."

Sam's voice didn't betray the fact that her heart was pounding in her throat or that she was afraid of being killed for the first time in more than three and a half years.

Police officers and Marines were steadily creeping up on the priest, or rather Winston Bainwright, and Sam knew that she would have to keep him focused on her, "You should have trained him better, Winston."

His trigger finger tightened and cursing herself at having gone too far Sam propelled herself to her right, behind the witness stand. At the same moment a dark shadow crossed her line of sight. She heard a gun firing, louder than at the shooting range during re-qualification week and was surprised to find herself still breathing and apparently unharmed.

Her instincts told Sam to stay were she was and wait for the Marines to get the situation under control. Instead she listened to the imperative sent to her by the low moan of someone in dire need of medical help.

Williamson was lying crumpled on the floor, bleeding heavily from a chest wound. Sam touched him; even her healing abilities would not be able to save his life. She also felt that he did not want to be saved. But there was one question she needed answered before he died, and only one way to get an honest answer.

Using a mixture of Ancient and Latin she asked, "Why? Why did you save my life?"

Sam had to bend down to hear his whispered answer, "The Lord created Eve out of Adam's rib not his foot."

He coughed blood. She heard something like the faint echo of more gunfire and a few heartbeats later the EMT arrived.

Despite their best efforts the medics couldn't bring Williamson back. He was declared dead at 1051 hours. Winston Bainwright was lying in a pool of blood with his head half blown off. Judge Petrovsky thanked the few jurors still in their seats for their time and dismissed them. Sam absently registered that though she tried to let her voice sound calm there was a definite tremble to it but she did not really care about the mental state of the judge.

Teyla had reached her side the moment the paramedics had arrived and had pulled her in her arms. The smell of the citrus soap they had used under the shower slowly superseded the scent of blood. Teyla didn't say anything and she didn't ask anything, she was just there, holding her, letting her listen to her heartbeat, just letting her feel alive.

It was a luxury she could not allow herself for long. She had to make sure that Cassie was alright, and Olivia, and Alex. She had to check in with their SGC guard to make sure that there were no further threats. She had to give a statement. She had to…

Just feeling Teyla's arms around her, however, seemed for the moment to be more important than anything else. Rationally Sam was well aware that her current rather fragile state was only partly due to the fact that Williamson had sacrificed himself to save her. Her lowered emotional walls had also to do with her recent lack of sleep. It was a weakness she thought she could ill afford.

Sam took a deep breath and gently kissed Teyla's cheek before she turned around to face the rest of the room. Bainwright was still lying on the floor, yellow police tape separating him from the rest of the room. Williamson's body was just being carried out into the corridor. Uniformed and plain clothed officers were taking statements from the audience. Ronon was standing only a few feet away, seemingly guarding her and Teyla's privacy. Olivia was talking with a handful of jurors, obviously trying to calm them down. Alex had her arm around Cassie's shoulders. They both looked pale. So, they would be her first stop.

Sam started to cross the room but was stopped by a crystal glass with amber liquid held out to her.

"Here, I thought you might need this, Colonel Carter. I sure did," Judge Petrovsky said.

"Thank you, your honor. I appreciate the gesture, but I don't drink. Miss Cabot, however, looks as if a sip would do her some good. The shooting today has probably brought back some dark memories," Sam answered.

Lena Petrovsky nodded and followed her over to the front row bench. Sam jumped over the barrier and Cassie flew in her arms, "Hey, kiddo, are you alright?"

"Am I alright? I was not the one staring in the barrel of a damn gun and baiting the guy with his finger on the fucking trigger," Cassie retorted angrily but didn't let go of the hold she had around Sam's waist.

The unexpected outburst made Sam want to scold her daughter for her language; instead she said, "I'm fine, Cassie, not even scratch. Everything will be fine."

"I was so afraid, Mum. I thought I would lose you like I lost Mom, and then I saw Williamson move and I couldn't see you any longer, and then you were at his side and that other man raised his weapon and Liv had hers trained on him and shouted at him to put the gun down and then you were kneeling next to Williamson and the priest, he smiled and aimed at you and you didn't even know it and then his head exploded and…"

Cassie didn't sound like the strong young woman she was but more like the child she had been all those years ago, frightened beyond reason and holding on to Sam as if her life depended on it. So, Sam just held her and murmured soothing words and stroked her back. She let her touch tell her daughter what she was too distraught to hear.

Sam knew that her own tense posture didn't make it any easier for Cassandra to feel safe and protected, but she felt unable to relax, at least until she felt Teyla embracing them both. The knots in her back and stomach slowly dissipated and Cassie's hitched breathing that had bordered on hyperventilating returned to a normal rhythm.

When Sam was sure that Cassie would be able to not only listen but also to understand she looked her in the eyes and said, "I love you, Cassie, and I always will. Nothing can change that, not in this life, nor beyond."

"I love you too, Mum, and I'm sorry that I'm such a baby."

"You are very brave, Cassie. I'm sure that a few people in this room had to hurry to the next lavatory after what happened. You didn't," Sam said in an effort to lighten the mood.

"I was too afraid to get sick, but could we please leave here. I already had Pathology 101. And Captain Cragen over there looks decidedly impatient."

"Oh, yes, we will have to give a statement. Have you seen Mark?"

-x-x-x-

Leaving the courtroom Alex, Olivia, Sam, Teyla and Cassandra found themselves quickly surrounded by officers and Marines and herded to the by now familiar waiting room. Sam had no idea how much time had passed since Williamson and Bainwright had been shot but from the worried look on her brother's face and the fact that he immediately hurried towards them she deduced that it had been more than a few minutes. He reached them and pulled Olivia and Sam in a bear hug.

"Damn, sis, you had me scared there. What were you thinking? Just standing there and mouthing off to a madman with a gun trained on you. Your guardian angels have really had to work overtime on that one. Don't do it again."

"I'm fine, Mark, thanks to Olivia. From what I saw of the spatter pattern the shot could only have come from her position. I guess we're even now, Liv," Sam answered with a warm smile.

"Just doing my job, Sam, and I'll always owe you. Without you I would not have gotten back together with Alex, and that's something I'll never be able to repay. I just wish I could have stopped him without killing him. That man has a lot to answer for, but without him it should also be easier to break up his organization," Olivia said.

"Why did you kill him, Detective Benson? And with a shot to the head? That's not exactly standard operating procedure," DA Branch asked. He had been talking with Judge Petrovsky when they had come in but had quickly turned his attention to them.

"I saw that he was wearing a Kevlar vest when he got up and walked over to target Colonel Carter; so, the standard shots to the chest would not have been effective and shooting his arm or leg instead would only have further endangered the innocent bystanders," Olivia answered calmly.

"I see, sounds like a good strategic decision to me, Detective. Now, if you would all please take a seat. Miss Cabot's junior ADAs will soon be here to take your statements, after that I would advise you to return to the Cabot Estate. The US Attorney General or one of his representatives will give you a more thorough report on the raids that have taken place or are still taking place on Supremacy Alliance properties. Let me give you a short outline on what has happened so far."

Branch looked down for a moment to consult his notes, "Of the thirty-eight locations that were or are being searched FBI and ATF only encountered armed resistance at only one of them, the compound near Dodge City, Kansas. A few shots were fired but they gave up when faced with superior numbers. From what we know so far the failed attack on the courtroom on Friday has greatly discouraged them. Thanks to Agents Rossi and Reid the women held captive there have not been harmed and they are all willing to press charges against their captors and torturers. A hundred and sixty-four arrests have been made and the agents involved are still cataloguing all the material they seized.

"I don't know much more about the rest of the raid and searches but the ones here in New York also went well, except for the fact that we found two dead women in Queens and three dead and two gravely injured women in Manhattan. The survivors are undergoing emergency surgery as we speak. Four arrests have been made. The men are being processed right now and will be brought to the one-six for interrogation right after that.

"Miss Cabot, I want you to sit in on those interrogations. Judge Donnelly is on standby for all the warrants you'll reasonably need to nail those men as hard as the law allows. Warrants compelling DNA samples have already been prepared. I'm sure that you all still have a lot of questions, but unfortunately my answers are limited. So, please, stay your curiosity 'til it's time for the more official debriefing. And now, please give your statements to Miss Rossi, Mister Potter and Miss Finn."

Branch rose and left the room in sudden silence. Alex let about ten seconds pass before she took charge, "Alright people, let's do this. We have to make sure that we don't influence each other hearing other statements. So, Jessica, Christina, Nick, you three will split up…"

-x-x-x-

"Really, Caroline, you should have seen her. She went from pale and shocked and hanging on Olivia Benson's arm to taking charge and ordering everyone around. It was a sight to be seen, the determination and the fire in her eyes, it made her look so much like Alex," Lena said with a smile and sipped the coffee she was drinking to try and counteract the brandy she had swallowed earlier that day, probably not the best idea considering the late hour but it had worked in the past.

"I miss him too, Lena, but you're right Alexandra is very much like her father once she has set her mind on something or someone," Caroline took a seat in the comfortable armchair in her private office and held the cordless phone lightly to her ear. "Poor Olivia never stood a chance and I think that she still thinks that it was her who had initially chased Alexandra and not the other way round. But banter aside, Lena, how are you? It's not every day a madman brandishes a gun in your courtroom."

"I'm fine, Caroline. I admit that I was a bit shaken at first, to the point of gulping down two generous fingers of brandy, and I really hope that I won't have to live through anything like that ever again. However, it gave me the chance to see what you see in Colonel Carter. There are much more layers to her than the soldier she showed during her testimony."

"You're changing the subject, my friend. And not to put a needle in your haystack but you already saw her complexity over the weekend, Lena."

"Yes but that was different. At the Estate I saw a woman in love, someone at the top of her game, not easily fazed by anything. During her testimony I saw a soldier, hard and unapologetic about who and what she is. On the bench behind the barrister I saw a caring mother. Today I saw someone shaken by a man giving his life for hers, someone able to accept comfort and yet still strong enough to give it when her daughter needed her. In her own way and despite the secrets she apparently keeps she is honest."

"Secrets?" Caroline asked. Olivia and Alex had told her that Samantha's work was classified but she had not shared that knowledge with her friend.

"I have not much experience with the armed forces in general or the Air Force in particular but I doubt that an ordinary colonel, even one of the rather rare female variety, would warrant a military protection detail just because the press is being nosy. And an ordinary Air Force colonel at her age would not have a chest full of ribbons far exceeding those of a two-star general. An ordinary Air Force colonel would not have a reputation as a visionary in theoretical astrophysics balanced by a reputation for solid, groundbreaking field studies. Thursday, when I had dinner with Madeleine and Philip he asked me about her and he practically drooled over her articles and theories, and you know how hard it is to impress him in his chosen field. Listing to him Colonel Doctor Samantha Carter is the next Einstein, and he even thinks that to be an understatement," Lena said.

"Arthur told me earlier that the trial against Robert White will start the day after tomorrow. That means that Samantha will stay at least 'til the end of the week, possibly longer. Get Philip to print out some of those articles he was talking about and we'll get her to autograph them for him. I can't wait to see her face at such a request," Caroline said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes her phone partner could not see.

Lena, however, knew her old friend good enough to imagine her expression, "I swear, Caroline, you're getting more devious the older you get. I'll do it, but only under the condition that I can be there when you ask the good colonel. I want to see her face with my own eyes."

"Consider it done, Lena. Besides, will you be there during the White trial?"

"Probably not, at least not for the whole time, I don't want to over-inflate Arthur's ego more than it already is but I heard from the rumor mill that a few of the prosecutors try to call in favors to get the time off and sit in Liz' courtroom. However, Lois and I are meeting for breakfast on Wednesday and then intent to listen to the opening statements. It should be interesting."

From then on their talk drifted to more mundane things and half an hour later they both hung up with the promise to keep each other posted.

-x-x-x-

The next morning Sam woke up from the sun not yet shining in her eyes, surprised to find herself in a bed and relieved to feel Teyla's arms securely wrapped around her.

In some aspects everything after leaving the courtroom was a blur to her. She vaguely remembered Arthur Branch telling them about the Supremacy Alliance investigation, though she knew that she would be able to recall every single one of his words if asked to do so. She remembered giving her statement to one of Alex' ADAs and the wide-eyed wonder in the young man's eyes. She remembered all of them being stuck in that waiting room until a path had been cleared that would avoid the press.

She remembered Alex and Olivia's fidgeting to be dropped off at the one-six and how much she had wanted to confront those men herself. She remembered the drive back to the Hamptons, holding Cassie and being held by Teyla. She remembered Antonia shoeing them all in the den and plying them with hot chocolate. She remembered Tommy and Beth clinging to her and their father, and how Mark's face had lit up at the obviously unexpected show of affection. She remembered Caroline sending all of them to bed early right after dinner and her not quite playful announcement that she had locked up the garage and would not give up the keys until after breakfast. She remembered falling asleep in Teyla's arms and once again getting out of the sling to be able to hold Teyla in return.

And now she was awake and no nightmare had plagued her sleep or propelled her out of bed, sweating and trembling. She had slept through the night. Teyla was still holding her. She could feel Teyla's slow, regular breath on the skin of her neck, and it was the most wonderful feeling she had had in more than three and a half years. Nestling a bit closer in the embrace Sam allowed her mind to drift to what they had learned about the searches of the Supremacy Alliance properties.

US Attorney General Lassner had called about an hour and a half before dinner to repeat what they already had heard from District Attorney Branch only with more detail. It would take an army of investigators and lawyers to go through all the hardcopy files they had found in the diverse locations but Lassner had made it clear that even with the leader apparent of the Supremacy Alliance dead the organization itself would have to answer to a Federal court about its non-compliance with the Constitution and its amendments.

Kansas had not been the only location where innocent, unwilling women had been held for so-called re-education, though not at such a grand scale. Locally there had been no more than two or three women at any given time, at least as far as they could tell at the moment. It had turned out that the women in the Manhattan branch of the Alliance had been the wives and in one case the daughter of one of the Friday attackers and that they had been punished for their husband's (and father's) failure by Winston Bainwright himself, but according to the trace evidence found at the scene not only by him.

Sam knew that there was not much she could do to help those women and that she should be content with the role she had already played in finding the revealing files and decrypting them and helping the authorities to act. But she was not.

Sam knew that a lot of atrocious things were happening on Earth, every day, every minute, every second, but she never would have even considered something like that, the depraved fantasies of one man turned into some king of twisted philosophy and political agenda. It did not make her doubt her commitment to protect her home world to the best of her abilities but it made her doubt the wisdom of letting people believe that despite all evidence to the contrary they were living in the best of possible worlds.

Before her thoughts had a chance to turn even more morose Sam felt Teyla's lips on her neck, licking and nibbling. It brought an unconscious smile to her face and woke her sexual needs that had been put to the back burner by yesterday's events. It took some maneuvering to turn around without losing contact with Teyla's skin but the vision of Teyla's bright brown eyes looking down on her made her forget everything about Bainwright or the state of Human Rights on Earth.

-x-x-x-

JJ and Emily left that day to join their colleagues in Kansas, together with Meredith Killy who had convinced them that she would be able to help. The failed abduction on Friday, it seemed, had made a lot of Supremacy Alliance members doubt the wisdom of their leader. It was evident that the plan had had so many holes in it that one would have been able to drive a whole army of trucks through them. Bainwright felt threatened, especially when he heard that Addison Williamson was not rallying with his cause but had loudly spoken out against Bainwright's ideas. According to one of the Correction Officers in Williamson's cell block he had made it clear that people who perverted God's teachings and commandments the way the Supremacy Alliance did were far worse than the misguided women who had forgotten their real place in society. Had they not both caused so much pain, death and suffering the debate between the proponents of both philosophies would have made for an interesting thought experiment, between what Williamson had called his 'patriarchal benevolence versus Bainwright's racist and sexist approach.

Gwen Green returned to Mark Farthington who not only offered her a place to stay but also a job. Mark and his family left the day the trial against White had started, both Diane and Mark had to get back to their work and the children had lost enough school as it was. Parting Sam hugged her brother and for the first time in twenty-five years it felt good to do it. They had agreed that Diane would be the one responsible for searching for an apt cause to donate Jacob Carter's money, and that they would stay in email contact. Even though Sam and Olivia had given her carte blanche to act as she saw fit.

Tommy and Beth had been ecstatic that they no longer would have to hide their contact with Cassandra and Sam, and both received their first mail the day the teens had arrived back in San Diego. They both seemed to be bursting with unspent energy, especially Beth who just as Sam had expected had received a positive answer from Bob Kawhery. He not only wanted her to work for him on a part time basis, he also had wired a sizable sum to her account for solving the problem he had given her.

On that day the SGC protective detail was withdrawn. With the Supremacy Alliance on every front page and news channel now the interest in Alex, Sam, Olivia and Cassandra had faded considerably and everyone agreed that local law enforcement would be able to deal with their protection, with the exception of Captain Hailey who stayed at the express orders of the head of Homeworld Security, General Jack O'Neill.

Sam and Cassandra both spent long hours on the phone or a video link talking with Jack, Daniel and even Teal'c who had gated to Earth from Dekara for a short visit. Siler, Carolyn Lam and Cameron Mitchell had also had their more than five minutes with them. Cassie also talked with her friends in med school in Denver. At first they had not known whether to pity her or be intimidated by her strength but she managed to get them to relax. All three of them promised to keep her up to date on their course work when she told them that for the time being she would stay with her adoptive mother on the base. Cassie was not altogether sure if the believed her promise to be back to finish her studies.

-x-x-x-x-x-

EPILOGUE

On Friday Sam fulfilled her promise to Vala and took her shopping, well, at least that had been the idea but it ended with Olivia and Sam trailing behind an excited group consisting of Cassie, Alex, Vala and Teyla. When they returned in the evening the siblings were convinced that they had not been this exhausted in years.

Meanwhile Sam continued to work on the race car with a changing crew of helpers, most regularly Teyla and Olivia. She finished her work on the Maserati A6 CGS coupé the day before the closing arguments in the White case would start. Sam was giddy like a kid at Disney World at the prospect of seeing that car in action for the first time in more than half a century. Sam even had insisted on driving to the next gas station with Olivia to personally make sure that the fuel for the A6 had the right mixture of gasoline and ethanol and half a dozen other components.

Her heart was beating in her throat when she finally had turned the key in the ignition and the powerful engine roared to life. She could feel it throbbing in her bones and experimentally revved up the engine almost to its maximum. She kept one eye on the rev counter and the other on Jennifer Hailey who had her head under the hood to check on the smooth working of the engine. Jennifer gave her the thumbs up and Sam grinned like the Cheshire cat on speed.

Sam was wearing the grease and oil stained coverall she usually worked in. There was a bit of dirt on the left side of her throat. Her ponytail whipped around when Olivia called her name and pressed the release button on her digital camera, a picture of youth, innocence, intensity and joy which soon would count among Mark's favorite pictures of his sister.

Over the last two weeks Caroline and Olivia had taken quite a number of pictures, documenting the progress of the car renovation. Caroline planned to combine them and the documentation Alexander Cabot had put together all those years ago to create a scrap book and give a copy to everyone who had had a hand in getting the classic bolide back in working order - well, as soon as she had found that documentation in the chaos her late husband had called a filing system and she had never gotten around to sort through and bring to a reasonable order.

The engine was singing in Sam's blood and she had a hard time to focus on the system's check she wanted to perform. She took a deep calming breath and proceeded to put the engine and the electrical system through its paces. Everything was working as expected and after only about ten minutes she shut down the engine.

Sam used the flat board and rolled under the car to check all the seals. Except for the faint hints of the damage done in the Giro di Sicilia in 1954 the bolide looked just as Sam imagined it had the day it had left the workshop of Pinin Farina. It was a glorious sight, from below as well as from every other angle. To Sam it was more beautiful than the first time she had seen it with her own eyes or the first time she had touched it.

Teyla had been outside, training with Vala and Ronon during Sam's systems test. Sam washed her hands while Jennifer tidied up the work area. There was not much to do but she found herself reluctant to leave just yet. She could not help the feeling that there was something she should see. So, Jennifer lingered.

Olivia looked through the pictures she had already taken that day when Teyla came in wearing tight leather pants, a sweat soaked tank top and her fighting batons in a holster at her right hip. She casually leaned against the closed driver's side door.

It looked as sexy as any Playboy centerfold Jennifer had ever seen. Her focus widened when she saw Sam turning around and finding Teyla. The face of her commanding officer lit up, even brighter than when the engine had sprung to life. Jennifer watched in fascination how Sam walked over to Teyla, completely mesmerized. Sam's eyes were sparkling and Jennifer was sure that she was not aware of anyone or anything but the leader of the Athosian people.

Olivia also followed Sam's progress with her camera, as fascinated by Sam and Teyla's reaction to the other as the young Air Force captain.

"Hey, beautiful, did you have fun with Ronon and Vala?" Sam asked.

"It was nice, but I felt superfluous. Those two throw off more sparks than your average lightning strike," Teyla said.

Sam touched Teyla's cheek with her right hand, "They do? I wouldn't know. All the sparks I feel are leading me to you."

Teyla pulled Sam closer and kissed her again, gently, and Sam kissed back - and suddenly a firm grip dragged Jennifer out of the garage.

-x-x-x-

Several hours later, with Sam and Teyla both fresh from the shower, Sam met Caroline in the living room and handed Alex' mother the keys to the A6 coupé, "It's ready for a test drive, Caroline. Do you need instructions on driving clutch?"

Caroline smiled at Sam, "No, Samantha, I don't, growing up I spent a few years in Europe, and besides it's not exactly astrophysics. You should take the Maserati for a ride, Samantha. You repaired it. You turned it from a useless heap of metal into something strong and beautiful. The honor to take it out for its second maiden voyage, so to speak, is all yours. Take Teyla and enjoy the sights and the fruits of your hard labor."

Sam protested, claiming that it had been a group effort and that after all it was Caroline's car.

"We'll all get our turns, Samantha, sooner or later. Now, it's your chance to show Teyla why she had to share you with a hunk of silver metal all this time, but don't stay out too late. Harry Wolf offered his limousine to get us all to New York in time for the closing arguments tomorrow morning."

Over the last couple of weeks Sam had recognized that special infliction in Caroline Cabot's voice, a mother's voice, she knew it would not do any good to argue against. So, she just thanked her for her generosity and accepted the pick-nick basket Antonia had apparently prepared for them.

Despite the nice landscape Teyla spent most of their drive looking at Sam, how she listened to and scrutinized even the slightest sound, how she smiled unexpectedly every once in a while, how she gradually relaxed in the seat. Every minute she was learning more about the real Samantha Carter and when they reached the parking space of a beach Caroline pad pointed out to Sam a few days earlier Teyla was almost disappointed to see the ride end.

Sam's exuberance when dragging her out of the car and onto the beach, however, was ample compensation. The basket seemed to hold endless surprises from an insulated blanket to a thermos with tea and two mugs to chocolate chip cookies to Antonia's 'Death-by-Deliciousness' sub-sandwiches. It had just the right combination of textures and tastes and smells, just perfect. There also were two bars of chocolate, dark chocolate, Sam's favorite, and white chocolate, Teyla's favorite. Between them they ate everything except for a small jar with pickled gherkin. They fed each other between kisses and enjoyed the moderately warm breeze coming from the ocean until it got too cold.

-x-x-x-

The next day, after less than an hour of deliberations the Jury found Robert White guilty of kidnapping, wrongful detainment, aggravated assault, manslaughter and two counts of attempted murder. The sentencing hearing would take place the following week and everyone expected that it would end with 'live without parole', at least. Robert also would probably have to face charges in a civil court addressing numerous counts of embezzlement and theft.

The Saturday after the verdict against White there was a big party, officially proclaiming the engagement of Alexandra Cabot and Olivia Benson; unofficially it was also a victory and farewell dinner for Sam and Cassie. Caroline's guest list had been much more extensive than Alex or Olivia would have expected. During the party Arthur Branch theorized that there wouldn't be a civil court procedure against Robert White. He was convinced that his family would want to keep the scandal as low key as possible by compensating Robert's victims.

The day after the party Sam, Cassie, Teyla, Ronon, and Vala returned to Cheyenne Mountain. Sam was surprised to find herself reluctant to leave and though they promised to stay in email contact she knew that she would miss Olivia's teasing smile and Alex' stubborn ambition to understand the physics behind wormhole travel. She would miss Melinda's concerned nagging not to overdo it with her shoulder. She would miss Caroline's motherly concern and Antonia's cooking.

She even would miss the banter with the detectives of the one-six they had visited a few times during the White trial. Fin and Munch's interactions reminded her so much of the bickering between Jack and Daniel that for a moment Sam had imagined them as lovers but just as quick dismissed the idea.

Jack had come from Washington and organized a barbeque at his place in their honor. They had barely time to get out of the plane before they were dragged off to his house, because, as he said, 'there's no dawdling when there's cake involved'. Even Teal'c made an unexpected jump to Earth to take part in it. Sam surprised everyone except for Cassie when she ate a big helping of Daniel's chicken salad, declaring it just spicy enough. Daniel stared at her with wide eyes and Jack pulled them both in an embrace, saying that it was good to have his kids back safe and sounds, even if only for one night.

Before they all left for Atlantis Sam finished the work she had already started on Jack's knee, and as soon they arrived at Midway Station Sam healed Cassie and freed her from the cask.

-x-x-x-

About four months later Sam entered the quarters she shared with Teyla and found her partner, her wife as she thought of her, reclined on the cushions they had, following Athosian tradition, put on the floor in place of a couch. She secretly loved the freedom it gave them to arrange and rearrange the living room and she openly complained that she was getting too old to roll around on the floor. Teyla was reading one of the books she had brought from Earth but looked up when she heard the door swish open.

As always Sam looked beautiful in the red and grey uniform with her hair in a simple pony tail, but, Teyla thought, Sam would be beautiful in everything and nothing. That made her smile even brighter and she stretched out her hand to have Sam join her on the cushions. This morning she had missed out on their cuddling time due to a minor emergency in one of the labs, and she intended to rectify that grievous oversight, "Hey beautiful."

Sam kissed her tenderly and took her in her arms, "How are you, Teyla-mine? Jennifer said that you were sick again."

"I'm fine at the moment. I just hate feeling so nauseated all the time. Jennifer tried all the home remedies she could come up with, but nothing seems to work. Even the smell of ginger now makes me want to throw up, and this baby of yours really does not like the standard medicines." Teyla snuggled in Sam's arms. "I hate being so helpless and needy. Athosian women are usually active until the very moment of birth."

"I'm sorry, Teyla. You shouldn't have such a hard time. Why don't we make use of your people's knowledge? You can't be the first woman having a hard time with morning sickness. We're due on the mainland in three days anyway for the Festival of Alducan. We can add a few days, get there sooner," Sam said.

"What about your work?"

"As I said more than once, there is definitively something to be said for an administrative assistant, Teyla. It gives me so much more freedom to organize my time. I already delegated most of my projects and postponed the others. We can take some time off, besides, we'll stay in radio contact and with the puddle jumper we can be back in less than an hour should the need arise. It would also be a good opportunity to tell your people that there soon will be an heir to the Emmagen line."

Sam put a protective hand on Teyla's still mostly flat stomach. Teyla smiled at the simple, yet possessive gesture though she was already quite sure that a few months down the line Sam's protectiveness would probably drive her completely crazy.

"You, my Sam, are just bursting at the seams to let everyone know what a stud you are."

Sam laughed and playfully kissed the tip of Teyla's nose, "I really wish that Vala would not have picked up so much Earth slang and colloquialisms. She's been here for less than two months, and she has already corrupted you."

"Me and half of the rest of the City but I have never seen Ronon that content and calm," Teyla answered. "He's happy."

"So is Vala. Ronon gives her direction, something to live for instead of merely surviving. And they are so cute together it gives me endless teasing material," Sam answered with a sly smile that was immediately rewarded by a passionate kiss.

"You know, my Sam, as much as I loathe that morning sickness that lasts all day, there is a side effect of carrying your child I really, really do like. I want you all the time and I want you now."

"Our child, Teyla-mine, our daughter, and there is no empirical evidence that it has anything to do with the pregnancy. I'm not pregnant and yet I too want you all the time.

Teyla kissed her and there was no more talking for the next two hours, except for whispered and shouted names and endearments.

-x-x-x-

On the way to the mainland, with the puddle jumper on autopilot, they checked the emails that had just come in from Earth. Cassie had returned to Earth about three weeks ago and had resumed her classes. She had recovered well from her ordeal in New York, not the least thanks to long talks with Tanaria, the old Athosian healer. That had done her more good than the sessions with Kate. Cassie was determined to finish her studies and try to pick up her old life. So far the emails she was sending were encouraging. Sam and Teyla had told her about the baby the day before she had returned to Earth and she was asking a lot of questions about her little sister. They answered together.

Caroline Cabot had sent an official invitation with mandatory R.S.V.P. to Alex and Olivia's wedding. It also had a personal addendum that made Sam wonder how much the elder Cabot really knew about Sam's job since it said that there better be the fate of the universe in the balance should they not be on time or they would know the wrath of a Southern lady.

"You will be at the beginning of your third trimester by then. Do you think we can use the Gate or will we have to hitch a ride on the Daedalus?" Sam asked.

"Athosian women have gone through the Gate pregnant for thousands of years, my Sam. I don't intend to be cooped up in that tin can for days on end. You don't need to worry," Teyla said with a smile.

"Don't you know by now that worry is my middle name?" Sam answered and kissed Teyla on the cheek. "Here's an email from Alex to you. Do you want to read it for yourself?"

Teyla nodded and Sam transferred Alex' mail on a second data pad. Teyla leaned against her side and the both started reading, Sam's email was from Olivia.

It started with Olivia babbling about the wedding plans and how nervous she already was and how excited. Olivia also wrote that the quite, small wedding both she and Alex had wanted had been scrapped by Caroline. According to the matriarch of the Cabot family, no Cabot in her right mind would even dream of eloping, especially not if that particular Cabot had political aspirations, and of course Caroline was right. Neither the social nor the political circles in New York had made any waves about Alex and Olivia's relationship, but they never, Olivia explained, would forgive Alexandra Cabot should she make them lose out on participating in what seemed to turn into the society wedding of the century.

And then Olivia dropped her bomb. Judge Harriman would perform the ceremony. Alex would be led down the aisle by Caroline and Professor Harry Wolf. Olivia had asked Captain Cragen to walk her down the aisle and she wanted Sam to be at her other side. The request left Sam speechless. In rare dark moments Sam still feared that one day Olivia would regret her generosity and exclude her from her life because of what General Carter had done. It brought tears in her eyes.

Teyla saw them and kissed them away, "Are you alright, my Sam? Does Olivia have bad news?"

"Oh, no, quite on the contrary."

Sam explained what Olivia had asked and what it meant and learned that Alex had asked Teyla to be one of her bride's maids. That led to some explaining about wedding traditions in the United States which were interrupted by the computer telling them that they had reached the mainland.

THE END


End file.
